𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗲, steve harrington

06. THE HARRINGTON HOUSE

Oh Jesus. And she was supposedly trouble as well - as in serious trouble, where these so called 'bad man' would kill all of them for being in a ten foot vicinity of her. She came from a 'bad place' with 'bad men' - from the looks of her some mental asylum, but Sadie had done her research into the nearest, and Pennhurst seemed a mostly decent place.

But she couldn't quite get over how she had left Mike, Dustin and Lucas with her, considering everything. She had left three boys with a clearly terrified, malnourished and troubled girl just so she could sit on the loungers at the edge of Steve Harrington's pool with Barb, Nancy, Tommy and Carol - not to mention the man of the house himself, who was currently smoking what was definitely not a cigarette.

"So, Sadie." Carol spoke up from where she was stood with her boyfriend, who currently has his arms around her waist and flicking the lighter he had thrown to Steve just a moment ago. "How was your little trip with Jonathan? Didn't contract anything, did you?"

Sadie was forced to bring her thoughts away from Eleven and the boys, eyes settling on the pair, silent for a moment. "Your hair is about to go up in flames." She said calming, turning towards Steve. "They're not just for you, are they?" She pointed towards the box of beers.

Steve stared. "No - no, of course not." He handed her one, watching as she opened it and took a sip. "Where did you go with him?"

"And did you take a shower after you got back?" Carol couldn't help it - Sadie could see the laughter bubbling up in her eyes and she shifted uncomfortably, meeting Barb's eyes.

"I went to help him look for Will, at his dad's." Sadie replied quietly, drawing her knees up to her chest. "Up in Indianapolis."

"You went to Indianapolis?" Nancy sat up, eyes wide.

"Yeah. Where Will wasn't, by the way." The Henderson girl added, turning back towards Barb as she heard Tommy comment about Jonathan probably trying to cover up his tracks. "Do you think we could leave soon?" She asked, voice lowered.

"I don't know, but this was even worse than I expected." Barb shuddered, and not just from the cold. "At least you're getting something out of them, nobody's said a word to me since I arrived."

"I'd swap with you any day." Sadie grumbled, sitting back in her seat. Neither Carol nor Tommy had any sense of decency - at least Steve had thought to tell them to shut up earlier on, gaze landing on said boy as he reached for another beer can and stood up, pocket knife in hand as he slit the bottom of the can and drunk from it.

"You are a cliché, you do realise that?" Nancy continued, balanced on the edge of her sun lounger with her hands folded in her lap.

"You are a cliché." Steve replied as he took a drag of the cigarette. "What with your.. with your grades and your band practise."

"I'm so not in band!" Nancy laughed. Her friends - who knew better - shook their heads at the assumption.

"Okay, party girl." Steve sat up a little bit. "Why don't you just, uh, show us how it's done then?" He held out the knife to her and Nancy got up, Sadie taking a sip from her beer normally.

Both Sadie and Barb shared a glance, both equally uncomfortable with what was happening. But if Nancy was to do all this - who were they to try and stop her?