𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝︱steve harrington

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟏. love is patient, love is kind.

"Then you would tell me the stars have stories for us," Nevaeh spoke over him, "for Elijah and Nevaeh Wolfhart. And although I don't know what those stories will tell, that you just can't erase them or change your fate when it's already been written." The spoon fell in the bowl with a soft splat and she leans forward. "I don't know if my addiction was some - some fucked up mess the stars wrote, but I survived it anyway. It had a happy ending, right? And you didn't mean to almost hit me with a bat. You were afraid, okay? I already forgave you... So did the stars, the ones that wrote your story."

The boy with his head in the stars has to pause and swallow them. And it burns as they shred Elijah's throat, burn inside of his stomach as they try to tear their way out, just for the painful process to start all over again. "I can't," he whispers. Elijah has to let his gaze fall to the table so he doesn't see the way Nevaeh frowns. "I could've killed you. I... I need help, Nevaeh."

"We can get you some," Nevaeh promises. "Listen, just - just come with me when I see Doctor Owens again. You won't have to make up shit for some psychiatrist, alright?

Hawkins Lab is the last place Elijah wanted to go after Nevaeh spent almost a year inside, healing.

It wasn't that Nevaeh didn't heal well herself there. It was that the thought of recovering from something so traumatic that started even before the Demogorgon ate its way into his life. Elijah's been in survival mode for so long that he doesn't know who he was before. It's hard to find yourself again when you're a long road of damage even if you don't have a map.

The tension between them almost feels back to normal as Elijah drives them to school. Classes, grades, schoolwork - they don't wait for no man. It sucks that his have dropped, even in Science. Too much has been trying to scramble his brain. He's given up trying to remain hopeful even when Nevaeh did. These were the small directions that guided him through this damaged map.

Too bad he couldn't get lost finding school. Elijah feels a sense of dread every time he comes across that stupid building. It's becoming tied to too many bad memories that he already struggles to add much more to.

Nevaeh has her sneakers pressed onto the dashboard, a notebook balanced on her knees as she studied the scribbled words, nibbling on the pink eraser of a pencil. "You should really focus less on Science and maybe more on History. I can help you with it. We have to raise that D to at least a C."

"Why?" Elijah asked with a scoff.

The notebook snapped shut. "You kidding me?" Nevaeh unbuckled and shifted in the passenger seat. "You're getting into college, you dumbass. You're going to major in - in some stupid science program, okay, and then go to the moon. So raise - " A hard hit is delivered to Elijah's shoulder with the notebook's cover, "Your - " Another smack, "Stupid - " Elijah yelps this time, "Grades!"

"Okay, okay!" Elijah snatches the book out of her hand before it could be used as a weapon again. "God. I didn't know you were trying that hard to get rid of me."

Nevaeh uses her hand this time to shove at Elijah's shoulder. "For a smart guy, you're so, so stupid." She huffs. "Do not let this small-minded town keep you here forever."

She's prepared to eat their words when they find out just how much more this already small-minded down is going to become. A distant roar of an engine rips across the parking lot and a blue Camaro comes into Elijah's view. He frowns at the speed the driver is taking and would've flipped the asshole off if he wasn't drawn to glance out the car window as the other parks not too far away. It's still a little close for Elijah's liking.