BAD TIMES • STEVE HARRINGTON

15. damn you

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chapter fifteen

THE THING ABOUT THE MIND FLAYER was that he was right to be afraid of Eleven. That fact was made even clearer when he arrived on Hopper's doorstep—more than thirty feet tall and made up of the bones and flesh of the flayed— and tore several holes into the cabin. To which Eleven, with a bit of their help, tore right through him. Although it was touch and go for a moment, they were able to escape to a nearby grocery store.

The Mind Flayer had nicked Eleven's leg when he made a nearly successful grab for her. The young girl was bleeding badly, and she'd winced with every step Mike and Max helped her take into the store.

"We can't stay long," Diana murmured before they broke off to find the supplies that Max needed to help Eleven. "He'll be here soon."

And whether she meant Billy or the Mind Flayer at this point was inconsequential.

"You're tired," Lucas stated, stopping in front of her as everyone continued to search the store. "And you look sick. Please just go sit down for a second."

Diana blew out a short breath. As much as he was right, she wouldn't be dictated by her little brother especially when her fatigue was probably the least of her problems. "I'm okay."

"No you're not." She moved past him, and she'd barely taken a step when she heard him say, "I don't want you to be like Eleven."

Diana stopped in her tracks and met his pained gaze with confusion. "What?"

"I don't want you to be a hero. I only want you to be okay. If the Mind Flayer comes for you—" He swallowed, unable to finish. "Eleven was made for this but you weren't. You never had to put yourself in his path."

"But I did," she murmured, unsure if she should be offended or saddened. "And you're all better because of it." Then she just hugged him because she loved him and she could at least give him that. "I swear to you, Lucas, I'm okay, and I will be okay."

After a second, he pulled away. By the look on his face she could tell that he was through with being sentimental. He nodded then nodded again. "I'm gonna go find Will."

Without another word, he was gone.

Something in his expression made her hang back. The thing about Lucas was that he when he started to worry, he could do little else. He'd worried about her from the moment he first realized she had visions but never like this. Never like he was afraid she wouldn't make it to tomorrow.

Perhaps he was right to be.

With that, Diana sighed and went to search for water.

Later when Dustin's voice unexpectedly crackled over Mike's walkie-talkie, Diana found herself coming clean about Steve's theories about Russians and his and Dustin's search for answers in the mall. "I didn't think it would amount to anything, and if it did, I was sure I would see something."

Nancy's eyes widened slightly. "But you didn't."

She repeated what she'd told Lucas, holding her thumb and forefinger close together before them all. "Again, I'm stretched this thin right now. Besides," she said turning to point at her brother—who was leaning against a basket full of fireworks—Mike, and Will, "these guys are supposed to be best friends with Dustin, and it wouldn't kill them to catch up every once in a while."

"Yeah but," Jonathan began with a scratch to his head, "aren't you and Steve dating?"

She murmured a few profanities and shook her head. "What does that have to do with anything?"