macabre | steve harrington

13. victamizing villains always prevail

"Hi." Dustin greeted Robin. "Hi." Robin slightly smiled. She looked pretty worn out, which was completely understandable. If Valerie had to sling ice cream 24/7, she wouldn't be so cheerful about it either. "I'm Dustin." Dustin introduced himself. "I'm Robin." She replied. "Pleasure to meet you. Uh.. is—is he here?" Dustin looked towards the window, then back to Robin. "Is who here?" Robin questioned. Not even five seconds later from Robin's question, was Steve Harrington, shoving the door open. Steve's hands flew up, Dustin's grin growing wider. "Henderson." Steve spoke in shock. "Henderson! He's back! He's back..!" Steve jumped in excitement, rushing towards the curly-haired boy. "I'm back! You got the job!" Dustin exclaimed. "I got the job!" Steve imitated trumpet sounds in celebration. They did their secret handshake, while Robin, Selina, and Valerie watched in amusement. Steve and Dustin bursted out in laughter afterwards, Robin leaning up against the counter. "How many children are you friends with?" Robin asked, making Selina and Valerie shrug, nodding in agreement with Robin. Steve pointed towards Robin, not looking too happy after she ruined their reunion.

Steve and Dustin joined Selina and Valerie in their booth. Dustin was currently about to share, what he says, was the 'best part' of his adventure at camp. "Okay—so, as soon as I got there, I came across this one girl. And—" Dustin began, before Selina cut him off. "Wait, hold on a sec. Girl? Does that mean. ." She waited for Dustin to confirm her theory. Everyone's mouth dropped opened in shock once he grinned at Selina. "Yup. And, she's even hotter than Phoebe Cates." Dustin added. "Hotter than Phoebe Cates? No." Steve shook his head. "Brilliant, too. And she doesn't even care that my real pearls are still coming in." Dustin grinned. "She says kissing is better without teeth." Dustin added, catching all three of them off-guard. Valerie, Selina, and Steve shared a look, all three of them at loss for words. "Wow. Yeah, that's great. Proud of you, man. That's ro—that's kinda romantic. That's like.. wow." Steve nodded, Dustin humming in agreement. "So have you.. kissed her?" Selina slightly smirked. "That's a really good question." Valerie leaned her head onto her palm, looking straight at Dustin. He refused to answer Selina's question, shaking his head as his cheeks slightly got tinted with a rosy pink. "So, you really get to eat as much of this as you want?" Dustin asked, shifting the topic away from his girlfriend. "Yeah. I mean, sure." Steve nodded. "It's not really a good idea for me, though. You know, I gotta keep in shape for the ladies." Steve smirked. "Yeah? And how's that working out for you?" Robin questioned from afar. Valerie tried to use her palm to muffle her laughter. Selina, on the other hand, didn't even try to disguise her laughter. "Ignore her." Steve said hastily. "She seems cool." Dustin nodded. "She's not." Steve shook his head. "So, uh.. where are the other knuckleheads?" Steve asked. "They ditched me yesterday." Dustin replied dryly. "No." All three of them said in unison, their eyes widening. "My first day back. Can you believe that shit?" Dustin shook his head. "Whoa. Seriously?" Steve asked, Dustin nodding in response to his question. "They're gonna regret it, though—big time, when they don't get to share in my glory." Dustin said. "Glory? What glory?" Steve questioned. They all waited for a response from Dustin, as he signaled for all of them to huddle together. "So, last night.." Dustin began. "I was trying to get in contact with Suzie." Dustin said. "Oh . ." They all spoke in-sync, smirking at Dustin. "And, uh.." Dustin paused, looking around the room. He pretended to scratch his upper lip, whispering something that not one of them could understand. Steve looked at both Valerie and Selina, trying to see if any one of them heard what Dustin said. The two blondes shrugged in response, Steve turning his head back to Dustin. "What?" Steve asked. "Uh. ." Dustin kept turning his head, making no eye contact with any one of them. He began to whisper again, which they still couldn't understand what he was saying. "Just speak louder." Steve said. "I intercepted a secret Russian communication!" This time, Dustin was loud and clear. So loud and clear, that everyone who was in the shop turned to look at the four. Valerie and Selina immediately shushed the boy, looking around at the people who were staring at them. "Jeez, shh!" Steve demanded. "Yeah, okay, that's what we thought you said." Steve nodded. They all took a couple of seconds to process Dustin's words. Secret Russian communication? What even is that? "What—what does that mean?" Steve asked. "It means we could be heroes. True American heroes." Dustin announced, looking around at the three of them. They all hummed in response, interested in what the 'True American Hero' life could contain. "American heroes." Steve spoke, all three of them scooting closer to Dustin. "Just think. You could have all the ladies you want." Dustin pointed to Steve. "You could be celebrating with a bottle of Malibu every night." Dustin moved his finger towards Valerie. "And you, could have every designer handbag you desire." Dustin lastly moved his finger towards Selina. "And more." Dustin added, examining all three of their facial expressions. Dustin knew them all so well. "More?" Steve asked. "More." Dustin confirmed. "I like more." Steve nodded. "What's the catch?" Steve asked. "No catch. I just need all three of your help." Dustin replied. "With what?" All three of them questioned hastily. It was an understatement saying that they were all very fascinated. Dustin reached down for his backpack, unzipping it all the way. He pulled out a dictionary, with the title, 'Russian-English, English-Russian dictionary'. "Translation."

Dustin explained more about the people speaking Russian, and his theories of what the tape consisted of. Selina, every once in awhile, would glance back at the purse shop.. which wasn't a surprise to Valerie. Dustin was in the middle of explaining, before an unfamiliar voice interrupted him. "This just keeps happening, doesn't it?" Nova leaned on the table. Valerie's heart dropped. She hadn't told Selina about her encounter with Nova. Since Valerie opened up to Steve about Nova, he immediately checked on Valerie, trying to read through her facial expressions. "Us running into each other, is what I meant." Nova clarified. "Yeah, I knew what you meant the first time." Valerie replied hastily. "Selina! Oh my, goodness, Hi!" Nova exclaimed. But, Selina was at loss for words. Since Nova got no reply from Selina, she shifted the topic. "So, Valerie, did your mom get that envelope? I know she really needed it." Nova asked. "How would you know that?" Valerie asked. Nova just innocently smiled at Valerie, ignoring her question. "So, Selina! I take it that you two are. ." Nova kept pointing between Valerie and Selina, which left Valerie mind-fucked. Selina took a moment to process Nova's words, her face immediately dropping. "Oh, I am so sorry! I thought she knew." Nova frowned. "Knew what?" Valerie questioned. "Nothing." Selina replied hastily. Her eyes began to glisten from her tears, getting up from the booth and rushing out of the shop. Valerie got up to follow her, before Selina spoke up. "Please, Valerie, don't follow me." Selina shook her head, her voice stumbling. Nova looked between the two, slowly turning back towards the booth. "You need to leave." Steve demanded, his jaw clenching in frustration with Nova. "You're right. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your reunion with him." Nova pointed to Dustin. "I'm gonna go." Nova spoke, slowly beginning to walk away. "Oh, and Valerie? You're asking about the envelope to the wrong person, sweetie." Nova added. And just like that, she was gone. Valerie was fulfilled with nothing but rage and fury. She got up from the booth, rapidly walking out of the shop. Her fists were clenched tightly, and she was ready to strike at that manipulative, two-faced bitch. Until, she felt an arm against her chest, stopping her from moving any further. "No, Valerie, stop. It's not worth it." Steve moved himself in front of her. "Get out of the way." Valerie tried to shove past him, but his grip on her arm slightly tightened. "Valerie, I'd rather have you take it out on me, than giving Nova what she wants." Steve spoke. Valerie contemplated on taking him up on his offer, (she had to let it out somehow!). But, he was right, no matter how much she hated to admit it. "Whatever. I still need to check on Selina." Valerie tugged away from his grip, walking towards the shop that had captured Selina's attention when they first got to the mall.

She rushed inside the shop, trying to spot Selina. She looked through every aisle, the bathrooms, and both consisted of everyone but Selina. "Shit." Valerie whispered to herself, trying to shake away the tears that were forming. If Selina wasn't using shopping as a coping mechanism, that's when you know, it's really bad. She pushed past everyone in the shop, making her way outside of the mall. Selina and them had parked in the very first parking slot to the left. Valerie turned to look at where they had parked, but the slot was empty. Selina had left.

Nova's visit may've been short, but not very sweet. In the two days that Nova had been at Hawkins, she had done more damage to both Valerie and Selina that neither one of them could comprehend. The worst part was, obviously Nova had a motive for creating all of this chaos. Her motive would most likely remain a secret, until she could come up with a way of presenting her motive. Little did Valerie know, her presentation of her motive was getting ready for display.