ruby's body ━━ steve harrington

007. 𝐧𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐦, 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲!

She snorts — which, grossly, lets out the final splatter of blood, so she wipes it away before Harrington notices. The end is in sight, thank God, as they turn the corner and the windows ahead display the parking lot. Ruby does start to think how they're meant to get home, considering they don't have a car here, but at this rate, she'd be happy to walk.

Harrington goes quiet for a moment. He opens the exit doors for Ruby, before going, "Uh, maybe if you're free later—"

But Ruby's focused on one of the cars outside, and the man next to it. Her anger, which was starting to dissipate, returns in full swing.

"For fuck's sakes."

Her dad looks up before she can hide. (She isn't sure where she would hide, exactly, but still. She would've hidden.) He was talking to Joyce Byers, who's here for some reason, but the second he sees her, he starts towards them.

Harrington looks over, and instinctively — like he used to — he puts a hand on Ruby's arm, as if to hold her back. She feels comforted by it, quite honestly, but it makes her uncomfortable too. So she steps forwards, and meets her dad halfway.

"What are you doing here?" says her dad, in his Sheriff's uniform.

"School trip," says Ruby, with a sneer. "We learned lots. Like... how to kill babies."

Behind her, she hears Harrington mutter, "The fuck?"

Hopper looks back at Harrington, and then at his daughter. He doesn't look impressed, but when does he? "I'm serious, Ruby," he says.

"They took us out of school—"

"What?"

Ruby, wanting to annoy her dad, shrugs. "Yeah, but it's been a pretty shitty day, so I don't mind."

"Why did they take you out of school?" he continues, because he doesn't believe her. He never does, when they speak. (And they speak about once every six months.) Technically she isn't lying. She's had a pretty shitty day. "What have you been doing?"

"Oh, it's always what have I been doing, when actually, it was Nancy and Jonathan, and they thought me and Harrington were involved," says Ruby. "Which we are not. So we left."

Hopper frowns. "They... let you leave?"

Ruby looks back at Harrington, who's confused now. She gives him a look, hoping he'll play along. "Oh, yeah, they just let us go," she says. She may not see her dad often, but she's still got the lying skills of a sheriff's daughter.

"Yeah," says Harrington, unconvincingly. So much for consumerism king of Indiana.

See, here's the thing: her dad was never there when she used her powers last year. The kids think she's cool, and Harrington finds it confusing, but her dad doesn't know. Which Ruby likes. The passive aggressive side of her (correction: all of her) doesn't think he deserves to know. Did he not notice her mom going crazy, all those years ago? It's his own fault he doesn't know.

Her dad frowns still, but it's not as if he's going to think she's got powers, is he? That would be fucking weird of him, if anything.

"OK... Well... I'll drive you home."

Ruby begins, "Oh, we're—"

"Thank you, sir," says Harrington, already setting off to her dad's car.

Ruby looks at him, astounded. Lazy piece of shit. Is a two mile walk through the woods that difficult for him?

Hopper, seemingly surprised, too, looks back at Ruby. She rolls her eyes, and walks towards his car, trying to catch up to Harrington.

The two get into the car before her dad returns, since he makes a detour to say bye to Joyce. Ruby turns back to Harrington, and tells him, "He doesn't know about—" and she pauses, to gesture the same way Harrington did earlier, in reference to her powers.