Stranger Love [Billy Hargrove]

Stranger Love - Chapter Twenty Two

Stranger Love

Chapter Twenty Two - Altercations 

"How the hell did I get stuck babysitting with you Harrington?" Anya asked in a drawl, arms folded and backside leant against the kitchen table. The boy in question gave a sharp sigh as he eyed her in exasperation.

"Well it wouldn't be my first choice either, but I guess it is what it is," Steve finally said. "Nancy needed to go with Jonathan so..."

Anya raised an eyebrow. "You two having trouble?"

"Not anymore. We're over. She's in love with Johnathan. I guess I was in denial about it, thought we could still make it work,"

"Wow, I didn't realise. Sorry Steve," She let her hand fall onto his shoulder for a moment, giving it a squeeze with a sympathetic smile. Steve took a moment to furrow his brow, eyes widened in alarm.

"Jesus, Anya, you're on fire," He stuck his palm on her forehead. "Are you sick?"

"No, it's my usual temperature these days," She batted his hand away. "I'm fine. Well...kind of,"

"What did El mean when she said you can use fire?" Steve pressed urgently. "That you were in the labs?"

"It's a long story Steve,"

"Then give me the short version,"

"Well..."

"Steve!! Help me out here!" Dustin suddenly yelled from the front room. Steve let out another long sigh, as if the weight of the world sat on his shoulders.

"What do you want?" He said in annoyance, as he and Anya followed the noise of the four kids. The house was now far emptier than it was before, as the group had split into three parties. El and Hopper were on their way to the labs, where she could hopefully close 'the gate'. The Byers and Nancy, on the other hand, sort shelter at Hopper's cabin in order to get the alien 'mind flayer' out of Mike before said portal was closed.

The atmosphere at the Byers household was tense. Mike hadn't stopped pacing since his teary goodbye to El (the two were evidently in love), and the rest of the group were anxious about sitting around doing next to nothing to help.

"Help me get this thing into the fridge," Dustin called as he crouched in a squat, pulling at the demodogs head.

"In the fridge?" Anya said as she wrinkled her nose.

Dustin yanked the lifeless alien body so it slid towards the kitchen, a line of black oozing liquid leaving a trail on the wooden floor. "Yes, the fridge. Steve, a little help maybe?"

"Urgh." Steve swiped a blanket from the couch, wrapping it around the dead creature and hoisting it up. "Let's go then,"

"Is that really necessary?" Anya watched in dismay as Dustin started throwing food out of Joyce's refrigerator.

"Yes, it is," Dustin exclaimed passionately. "This is a ground breaking scientific discovery! We can't just bury it like some common mammal, ok? It's not a dog!"

"All right! All right, all right. But you're explaining this to Mrs. Byers, you got it?" Steve merely agreed with the distressed teen, proceeding to shove the dead body into the small square space. It took a bit of pushing and shoving, with a few curses on Steve's end, for the pair to finally fit it into the fridge.

"You do know the temperature of the fridge isn't sufficiently cold enough to preserve it, right? You'd have to put it in the freezer." Anya suggested once both guys had stopped panting for breath. Steve all out glowered at her whilst Dustin gave himself a face palm.