[REWRITING] When He Sees Me, Steve Harrington

013 Stranger Things

"PLEASE STOP SCREAMING!" The eldest girl pleads, her eyes starting to feel fatigued from the consistent flashing lights that peak through the cracks of the elevator ceiling.

"Come on, just press something!" Steve shouts, voice hoarse and rough from his prolonged screams. "Just press the button!"

"PUSH IT!" Erica screams at her young friend again, slamming her palm into one of the buttons when he doesn't. Then, suddenly, almost comically, the room comes to an abrupt stop, flinging all of the panicked kids and teenagers across the room.

Steve is the first to lose his footing, tripping on one of the boxes behind him and causing him to start falling backwards. Laurie finds herself tumbling, too, her hand leaving the table beside her as she's tugged backward from her tight grip on Steve's sleeve. Before she can even attempt to catch her fall, Laurie collapses onto Steve's lap, causing the boy beneath her to release a loud, pained groan.

Laurie seethes as the side of her knee collapses into the metal ground, her body aching at the strange way it's twisted during her fall. Her eyes widen once she catches a glance at Steve's face, his brows knitted together and his eyes screwed shut as he curses under his breath.

His hand somehow has ended up on her lower back, a pathetic, yet surprisingly effective manoeuvre at catching her before she plunged into the stack of boxes beside them.

"Shit," Steve let's out a guttural groan as he moves his hands to her hips, carefully - desperately - pushing her torso upward and shifting her weight off of him. "Laur, could you maybe-"

It's only then that Laurie realises what kind of position the two of them are in, and despite the pain ricocheting in her legs, she's quick to scramble off of Steve's lap and push herself to her feet. "Oh, my god. Steve, I'm so sorry-"

"No, you're fine," Steve quickly mutters under his breath, sending her a dismissive wave tiredly. Her cheeks flush with embarrassment as he groans again, bringing his knees tight together as he rolls to his side. "I'm good,"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," He seethes, eyes screwing shut painfully. It's a complete and utter lie, anybody can see that, but Steve has always been too prideful to admit when he's not at his best. When he moves to sit upward he groans again, running his hand through his hair as an exasperated huff escapes his lips. "Just give me a second,"

Laurie nods hesitantly, ignoring the muffled giggles and annoyed sighs coming from Dustin and Erica from behind her. Robin, who's cradling the back of her head after hitting it against the shelf behind her suddenly asks, "Is everyone okay?"

"No," Confesses Laurie, feeling uncomfortably hot and anxious. She pulls her satchel bag off of her body and tosses it onto the table beside her, pushing some of her now frizzed hair behind her ears. She shakes her head at Robin, "Not really,"

"Yeah, I'm great," Steve snaps from the floor, sarcasm dripping from his tongue like none other. Finally, he's able to push himself up and off the ground and marches to the control panel again, swinging open the metal door with a loud bang as it hits the wall. "Now that I know Russians can't design elevators!"

Again, like he's convinced it'll do something, Steve starts pressing all of the buttons. "No, Steve- Take it easy, okay?" Laurie is quick to follow the boy, prying his hand away with her own. He looks down at her, confused. "The buttons might be malfunctioning. Like.. they could be jammed, or something. I think we just need to wait and-"