wild one - steve harrington

ghost town

'You're positive that was Dart?' Roxy and Steve heard Lucas say, as they joined the group again.

'Yes. He had the exact same yellow pattern on his butt.' Dustin replied surely. Steve and Roxy were in their own little world, nudging each other playfully and laughing.

'He was tiny two days ago.' Max pointed out.

'You've known this thing for two days?' Roxy asked, turning her shoulders to look at Max.

'You haven't been home for two days.' Max answered as a reminder with no judgement. Roxy hummed as a response, turning back around. 

'Whatever. Well, he's molted three times already.' Dustin continued, ignoring the bickering. 

'Malted?' Steve asked. A perplexed look cast itself on Roxy's face; she wasn't a grade A student but she certainly knew words and definitions.

'Molted. Shed his skin to make room for growth like hornworms.' Dustin explained. An already bored Roxy, who was standing at the edge of the group next to Steve, began to balance on the raised wood of the tracks. She managed fine, but gripped Steve's shoulder if she felt unstable. Steve switched his flashlight to his other palm and held Roxy's hand with his free one, steadying her. 

'When's he gonna molt again?' Max asked as they trudged along.

'It's gotta be soon.' Dustin answered lowly. 'When he does, he'll be fully grown, or close to it. So will his friends'

'That sounds like fun.' Roxy added, squeezing Steve's hand as she accidentally leaned too far out. He instinctively pulled her back to a straight position.

'Yeah, and he's gonna eat a lot more than just cats.' Steve said, in a quiet tone that was still loud enough for everyone to hear.

'Wait, a cat? Dart ate a cat?' Lucas said, walking in front of Dustin and stopping the group.

'No, what? No.' Dustin claimed.

'Liar.' Roxy said with a laugh, stepping down from the wood.

'What are you talking about? He ate Mews.' Steve confirmed, not exactly reading the room.

'Ugh.' Roxy let out a noise of annoyance and tiredly leaned her head forward onto Steve's shoulder as she tried to ignore the boys yelling at each other. After the boys yelled something about a rule of law, Steve tapped her on the back and nodded toward a familiar sound in the distance. He moved in the direction of it, shining his torch into the trees. 

'Hey guys.' Steve started trying to get their attention.

'HEY!' Roxy shouted, clapping her hands together, and the group turned to look at her and Steve. They all directed their attention to the screeches that came from miles away. Steve and the boys started walking into the forest. 'Oh my god. This shit again?' Roxy whispered to herself.

'No, no no. Hey, guys, why are you headed toward the sound?' Max asked in more of a panic. Roxy looked at her step-sister, shaking her head.

'Boys.' Roxy said. She and Max looked around themselves, and started to walk toward where the boys had gone. 'High time to get the hell out of this town.' They finally caught up with the boys as they all came to a stop on higher ground. 

'I don't see him.' Dustin said. Lucas pulled up his binoculars, and searched the view.

'It's the lab.' He finally said, after looking in the direction of what looked like a hostile building surrounded by security lights. 'They were going back home.' Lucas finished.

'Then, you know what? We should too.' Roxy said. The excitement had worn off and she was getting really tired of the fact she was stuck in this science fiction nonsense. She kept her chin held high, staring out onto the few small lights that managed to penetrate the fog, silently having a little existential crisis. The boys head off down back to the train tracks, talking amongst themselves, and Max jogged to catch up with them after sighing at the absurdity of their predicament. Steve turned to start walking too, but stopped himself when he realised that Roxy wasn't moving. He stepped back to where he was, next to her. 'What kind of town did I move to? It's not like this was advertised.' Roxy laughed. 

'Yeah, it's- uh, a little insane. Far-fetched, even to me.' Steve said dryly. 'I'll take you home if you want.' 

'Mm, only if you join me.' She responded, turning her body to face him with a slight wind blowing her hair. 'But then again, kids'll die.' She said with a shrug and a small chuckle.

'You know I would, temptress.' Steve's voice was noticeably lower. 'But you're right, kids'll die. I've gotta kill this thing.' 

'Bet I'll beat you to it.' Roxy said playfully with a wink. 'Come on, let's get 'em, tiger.' They shared a smile before breaking into a brisk walk following the faint conversations of the kids they were with. They were in a comfortable silence together, and for a minute there, Roxy had allowed a drop of selflessness  to come through her wall of cynic.  

After a while, they emerged from the woods to become face to face with Nancy and Jonathan, who seemed just as surprised to see them.

'Steve?' They said in unison, and Roxy snickered in realisation.

'Nancy?' Steve said, stepping forward and turning his flashlight down. Roxy didn't really know how to read his body language, so she walked as well and sidled up beside him.

'Jonathan?' Dustin asked, adding to the confusion.

'What are you doing here?' Nancy asked Steve, aggressively. 

'Leave it out, Nancy Drew.' Roxy said, narrowing her eyes at the girl. Steve looked at Roxy out of the corner of his eyes and smiled.

'What are you doing here?' Steve asked.

'We're looking for Mike and Will.' Nancy answered.

'Any more kids involved in this alien-murder movie?' Roxy asked sarcastically, looking out past Nancy and Jonathan toward the lab. She walked through them toward it, out of curiosity and general disinterest in the conversation. More screeching was heard, and Roxy tilted her head. She turned to look at the group, watching her and the lab with fear. She turned back around, facing blackness lit up by the white concrete and some small bulbs. Maybe I'm psycho. Or just someone who doesn't care about whatever the hell they should be scared of. I'm just trying to get a kick out of something.