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CHAPTER FOURTY FOUR " NAH, YOU STILL GOT IT "
DYLAN SAT IN THE AMBULANCE UNTIL STEVE DRAGGED HER AWAY. People tried to interrogate them, police, military, press..., but they both said nothing, just kept walking past them. Robin walked by their side but she didn't speak either. The three of them walked Robin to her house, Dylan not realizing that had been the intent until they arrived there.
"I'll call you tomorrow?" Steve said. Robin gave him a nod and walked up her porch steps.
Steve and her wordlessly started to walk again until Dylan realized the direction they were headed. "I don't want to go home," she said quietly.
"What?"
"I don't want to go home..." She said a little louder. "Could I stay with you? Could that be okay, for tonight?"
"Yeah," He ran his hand through his hair. "That would be okay. For tonight."
There wasn't a light on at the Harrington house, that made sense, he mother hadn't been expecting him home. Dylan knew it would be best to go home, her mother would surely be worried in the morning when she woke and Dylan was on the news but not at home, and she knew that staying at Steve's was reckless because she broke up with him and in turn broke both of their hearts. But she didn't want to be without him.
He quietly opened the back door (he had misplaced his key) and they crept through the house quiet and slow until they were in his room with the door closed. Dylan sat on the bed and Steve sat next to her, both of them still not sure what to say.
"Could I take a shower?" She asked weakly. "Or would that be too loud?"
"No, that'd be fine, my mom's on the other side of the house, she won't hear it," he said. "You know where everything is."
Dylan stood in front of the bathroom mirror and sighed. The spot where she had hit her head was now discoloured and raised, her hair was knotted, and she looked beyond exhausted. She stripped and turned on the tap, adding almost no cold water. When the heat hit her, she could feel herself relax a little.
She heard the door open and she peaked out the shower curtain to see Steve standing in the middle of the bathroom.
"Hi." She said.
"Hi." He said back.
"Did you want to come in?" Dylan asked before she even realized what she was saying. But she didn't take it back.
He didn't respond but he did start to pry off his bloodied Scoop's Ahoy uniform, he pulled back the curtain and stepped into the shower. Dylan took a step backward so she was pressed up against the tiles and let him have half the water.
She raised a hand to touch his swollen eye. It was sealed shut and what wasn't covered in dried blood was a deep purple. She held the washcloth she had brought in under the water and brought it up to his face, dabbing off the blood as gently as she could. Steve still winced at the contact but didn't stop her.
"They got you pretty good." She said softly.
"Yeah, didn't exactly help that the Russians tied me up and drugged me, definitely wasn't a fair fight."
"Doesn't look like one either. You need to ice that thing."
He tapped her forehead, away from the bruising. "What about you? How's the head? Sorry about that, by the way."
"You did what you had to do though a warning would've been nice," Dylan smiled. "The head definitely hurts. A lot. But I got off easier than some," she dabbed his eye again, getting rid of the last of the blood. "Case in point."
"Hey, I know how to take a punch. Don't worry about me."
"I'll always worry about you."
He tipped his head, placing his mouth on her cheek, only the slightest touch—Dylan could hardly feel it, but it still sparked a familiar feeling. She turned, kissing him under the shower water. The water spluttered around them and Dylan pulled away breathless.
They shut off the tap and padded back to his room, dripping water all over the hardwood. Inside his room, he handed her a pair of pyjama bottoms and a T-shirt. She changed into them and leaned back onto the bed, not caring about her soaking wet hair. Steve next to her, the two of them on their sides facing each other.
"Seems a crisis always seems to bring us back together." Dylan said, meek, attempting at humour.
"Yeah, seems that way."
"Is it weird that I'm here?"
"It should be," he replied softly, "but it's not. If it weren't for everything... it would be hard to tell if you hadn't left. It feels normal."
"I missed you." Dylan said, reaching out to grab his hand. "I'm sorry about everything. I know it's all on me."
He held her hand tight, pulling it to his lips and leaving it there. "It's not all on you," he mumbled against her skin. "I didn't send out any college applications. I got a job... here. I knew what I was doing. Just didn't really think it all through."
"I guess I didn't either." She tried to laugh. "Everybody knows you don't get into a serious relationship senior year. It's like the golden rule of high school."
"Yeah, 'cause you're supposed to go off to college and bang hot chicks."
Dylan slipped her hand from his and shoved him backward. "I think you've banged enough hot chicks in your day, Harrington. What do you need college for? I bet girls lined up in droves just to get a scoop of ice cream from you."
He shook his head. "Nah. I think I've lost my spark."
Dylan leaned back, scanning his face, her brows furrowing in concentration. "Nah, you still got it."
"Come here," he said, opening his arms. Dylan scooted over on the bed, letting him pull her in tightly. He wrapped his arms around her and breathed in. "I wanna hold you while I can."
Dylan nodded, relaxing in his touch. "I don't wanna lose you...even if we're not together. I don't want anything to happen to you."
He placed his chin on top her head and gave her another squeeze. "Nothing's gonna happen to me, alright? I've cheated death, like, three times now."
"I can't lose anyone else. Billy's Billy. He was a piece of work. But he was my friend sometimes. I figured he'd probably end up in jail or something," Steve snorted but apologized. "I didn't predict him dead. I didn't ever expect Barb to die. Heather and I were just getting close then... You can't die, Steve."
"I'm not gonna die—"
"Billy was a pretty heartless guy but he sacrificed himself for Eleven, for everybody," she paused. "Steve, you're nothing but heart. That scares that shit outta me. Don't you ever pull a stunt like that."
"The Mind Flayer's gone. We're safe, you don't have to worry."
"That's what we thought last year. It came back. And if that were happen again, I don't care how selfish this sounds, I need to know you're not going to pull something like that. I need you to promise."
"Dyl, I—"
She squeezed his arm, the one that was loosely around her neck. "I need you to promise me."
He sighed. "Okay. I promise."
"Thank you."
It wasn't much longer before he was breathing heavy into her hair, dead asleep, his body still tangled with her own. She could feel her own eyes getting heavy and she didn't try to fight it.
