Steve Harrington hated to say this but he missed her. He missed the way she chuckled at the stupid things he'd do to get her attention. He missed the way she would mock her brother and his friends but if anyone else were to do it, they would be dead...
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"We shall survive, let us take ourselves along Where we fight our parents out in the streets To find who's right and who's wrong"
Bennie and the Jets By Elton John (1973)
"Vallie, Nancy is here!" Claudia shouted up to her daughter who rushed out of her room in a second as if she was the Flash. Giving her mom a quick peck on the cheek, Valerie ran out of the house and jumping into Steve's BMW 733i that Valerie just adored but could not afford. She could barely afford her car and it was a piece of junk. She loved it, but it was a piece of junk compared to Steve's car. "You realize I could've just driven my own car?" Valerie chuckled, climbing into the backseat as Steve drove and Nancy sat on the passenger's side. Nancy twisted her neck around to face her friend with a slight smile on her face.
"It's just easier if we were to pick you up." The drive was short and silent as the trio arrived at the Holland's house which had a for sale sign in the front yard. "That's a bad sign," Valerie whispered to herself as the three stopped at the front door, hesitating before knocking. The Hollands loved their house and she knew that Barb had hoped that she would inherit it one day and raise her kids there. "Okay. Ready?" Steve asked the girls who slowly nodded in response. Valerie let out a sigh and she swallowed her nervousness down. "Let's do this." Valerie nodded to herself before slamming her hand on the doorbell. Steps were heard from within the house before Marsha Holland opened the door for the teens.
"Valerie, my goodness. I haven't seen you since--" Marsha got a little choked up before wrapping her arms around the girl with a swift movement. Valerie patted her back in an attempt to comfort her as Steve and Nancy stood awkwardly to the side. Marsha pulled back and looked at the three, apologetically. "Sorry about that. Let's eat." Marsha led the three to the dining room table where her husband, David, sat with KFC on the table causing Valerie's mouth to water. She fucking loved KFC "I'm so sorry I didn't get to cook. I was gonna make that baked ziti you guys like so much, but I just forgot about the time and before you know it, oh, my god, It's five o'clock." Marsha laughed as they all sat down and served themselves. Valerie sat at the head of the table with Steve on one side and Marsha on the other.
"It's fine. It's great." Nancy chuckled along with the parents. "Right. I love KFC." Valerie nodded along with them as she ate the chicken on her plate. They simmered in silence for a moment before Nancy started to speak."So, I noticed a 'For Sale' sign out in the yard." Nancy used her fork to move about the food on her plate as a slight distraction. Valerie turned away from her to Marsha and David who politely turned to Valerie with a smile. "Why would you sell the house, if you don't mind me asking?" Valerie asked as she wiped her mouth with a napkin as the couple chuckled nervously and smiled at each other.
"You wanna tell them?" Marsha smiled at her husband who simply told her to 'go ahead' with a shrug. "We hired a man named Murray Bauman. Have any of you heard of him?" The three shook their heads with Valerie and Nancy wide-eyed as they waited for their explanation. "He was an investigative journalist for the Chicago Sun-Times. He's pretty well known. Anyway, he's freelance now, and he agreed to take the case." Valerie's smile faltered as Nancy gulped down her food beside her. Valerie couldn't believe it. The poor couple was being scammed by a detective that probably just wanted their money for himself. "That's-That's great." Nancy smiled at the couple before looking wide-eyed at Valerie and nudging her slightly.
"What exactly does that entail?" Valerie chuckled as the parents smiled widely at her, happy with the choices that they had made that led them to that point. "Means he's gonna do what that lazy son of a bitch, Jim Hop- Sorry. What the Hawkins police haven't been capable of doing. Means we have a real detective on the case." Valerie was becoming more nervous with every word they spoke as she couldn't help the feeling of them being scammed. What person would take advantage of someone else's loss? "It means we're going to find our Barb." Valerie started to tap her leg nervously before she felt a hand on her kneecap. She turned to Steve who looked at her wide-eyed and nodded slowly causing her leg to slowly go still. Steve's hand lingered on her knee for a couple of seconds after before he quickly retracted his hand. "If anyone can find her, it's this man. He already has leads. By God, he's worth every last penny."
"Is that why you're selling the house?" Nancy asked in a quiet voice, hoping that it wasn't true. That they wouldn't sell the house to pay for a detective. "Don't worry about us, sweetie. We're fine. More than fine. For the first time in a long time, we're hopeful." The parents were happy whereas the three were nervous. They all knew what had happened to Barb, everyone else thought that Valerie had killed her but they knew the truth. And they couldn't tell them and that's what killed Valerie. She wanted so badly to provide them closure and just tell them that she was gone forever. "Excuse me. I'll be right back." Nancy stumbled up before rushing to the bathroom, leaving Valerie and Steve to awkwardly interact with the Hollands.
"It's finger-licken' good." Valerie let out a short chuckle causing Steve to smile brightly at the girl as she sipped on her soda next to her. The four continued to interact for a few slow minutes until Nancy came back and excused the group from the dinner. "It was so nice to see you again, Mrs. Holland. Thank you so much for the leftovers." Valerie hugged the mother again before shaking Mr. Holland's hand and walking out of the house with Steve and Nancy. They were all saddened about what they heard and Valerie was still thinking about it with a heavy heart. "Hey Nance, I'll drop you off first okay?" Valerie slipped into the backseat as a nervous Nancy discussed with Steve how she felt bad that they kept on searching and wasting their money on a goal they would never achieve.
As the two said goodbye and did lovey-dovey things, Valerie slipped into the passenger's seat and she and Steve began the five-minute drive home that started in silence. "Why did you leave, Val?" Steve sighed with his hand resting on his head with one hand on the wheel. Steve got right into it, not wanting to waste time. He was going a little bit under the speed limit to make sure they had enough time to talk. "I needed to get away from all this. This town. The guilt. And--" Valerie paused and looked at him who frantically look back and her whilst keeping his eyes trained on the road. Steve was a taken man and Valerie wouldn't be that girl that admitted her feelings to a guy she couldn't have. She would keep her mouth shut.
"And?" Steve asked quietly, sneaking glances at the girl who rested her head against the headrest behind her. He knew what he wanted her to say, but it was just a hopeful dream. "Just everything. I'm sorry, I left you at the hospital. Left you guys alone to deal with this. With that." The car came to a slow stop outside her house where her brother's bicycle stood outside. "I'm glad you're back. You should come to the Tina's Halloween party tomorrow. It'll be fun. Even if Tina is a bitch." Valerie hopped out of the car before leaning down through the window.
"I'll consider it. Bye Steve." Valerie mumbled out before she walked towards her house faintly hearing a goodbye from Steve before he drove away. Valerie smiled to herself as she debated going to the Halloween party before gasping as she paused in front of the door. It was that chirping again, she called her cat by making various cat noises before eventually giving up and walking back to her house. She quickly ran to her brother's room where he was fiddling with his walkie-talkie in his lap. She jumped on his bed causing him to bounce up a bit and glare at her for a second.
"Dust, I need your help. Give me some ideas for Halloween." Dustin smiled at his sister before the two spent the night brainstorming for possible outfit ideas. Valerie didn't think she was going to dress up immaculately, but she did enjoy spending time with Dustin and in the end that is one of the most important things to her.
So, this is a whole new chapter because I'm editing and basically it is so much better than the previous editing even if it hasn't changed that much.
