𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝𝐲 ⟿ s. harrington

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞

Carefully nodding his head, he sat back in his seat as his eyes wandered toward the window. Time was ticking by faster than he expected and Max was alone, vulnerable to Vecna. Without a word, he popped open his door and stepped out for a breath of fresh air. All this time he spent comforting the rest, he needed time for him to convince himself that this would work out as he told the others.

Steve looked to Alex as she kept her eyes trained on Lucas and how he sat up on the hood of Steve's car. All she wanted was to comfort him as he had done for her, but the weight on her shoulders only made her feel that Lucas would push to be there for her instead. Taking a big breath of air, Steve opened his door before looking back at each of the Henderson's with his finger raised. "Stay here, got it? I'm gonna go talk to him before she gets back."

Sitting back in his seat, Dustin gave a nod. Truth was, he was nervous to be left alone with Alex. Things were supposed to be normal between them just like before. Now it all felt forced and with a flick of the switch, she could retreat and he'd be left back in square one— hurt and confused about what he could do to fix things.

Each of them were quiet, neither sure what to say. The distance between the two was agonizing knowing how they once were. Alex knew she hurt her brother and she felt she didn't deserve his forgiveness. Rather than sit in that silence and feel the pain within it, Alex reached out and turned on the radio. Music began to blast out, but nothing that suited her taste in music. One thing she knew for certain was Steve always kept music in his car. Opening the glovebox, she began to dig through his music tapes. Each one she held onto, she bit the inside of her cheek, seeing that all were her favorites, the same music tapes she gave to him so he always had something of hers to keep.

Dustin only watched from his seat, quiet as she went through his music tapes. He began to frown as he saw the look on her face. "I think he kept them because he... he still loves you." His voice was soft and careful to not hurt her, almost as if he was afraid to speak.

Alex placed the music tapes back into the glove compartment and turned off the music. She rested her chin in her hands, looking out the window with tears clouding her eyes. It was something sweet and simple, and it was exactly something Steve would do— hold on to a piece of her in hopes of keeping alive the memories the two shared.

More than anything, Dustin wished she would say anything. Even playing music would have been better than to sit back in the silence as she fought back her tears for his sake. Clearing his throat, he sat back into his seat and looked out the window himself, wishing he could find the words to say. Even if they didn't discuss their adventure, he wished he could just talk about life— to have a normal conversation to distract them from everything.

Spotting him in the reflection of her window, Alex could see how badly he hurt. The same pain she inflicted upon Max, she did to her very own brother. Before they were always there for each other and now she was simply a ghost in his life, wishing and hoping for her to return to him. Soon Alex felt her breathing pick up as she shifted in her spot. "I still love you, Dustin, that never changed."

A sad smile came to his lips as he looked at the back of her seat. As much as he imagined the day he heard her say those words, it was never as sweet as the real thing.

Pulling herself back up straight, she watched her lap, opening up to him in a way she wished she never had to. "Pushing you away was never okay, and I will never stop apologizing for what I did to you. You're my best friend and I was afraid I would hurt you... and I just kept screwing it up." Reaching up, she swiped at her tears before she glanced to the backseat at him. "And I'm really happy you still had someone. I-I know it should have been me, but I'm glad it was Eddie. He's a total shit, but he's... he's amazing."