[REWRITING] When He Sees Me, Steve Harrington

019 Escape

"You're acting weird," Robin finally replies, and Steve furrows his brows because, in all honesty, he feels totally fine and doesn't think he or Laurie are acting out of the ordinary. If anything, Robin is the one acting weird because she's being a total square.

Okay, sure, maybe his brain feels like it's going a million miles an hour - well, as fast as it can be considering his thoughts are scrambled like eggs - but is that such a bad thing? His douchebag dad is always telling him that he needs to use his goddamn head more, after all.

So, when his mind wanders to something he usually wouldn't think of, a thought he doubts Laurie had either, he seizes the opportunity tenfold. He grabs at Laurie's thigh and squeezes it, stealing her attention from his coworker much to her annoyance. In all fairness, Laurie hasn't looked at him with her pretty doe eyes in what feels like hours and Steve personally thinks he's long overdue for some attention.

Robin rolls her eyes and before she can say something snarky like she always does, an argument erupts between Dustin and Erica about the boy's poor driving skills, and reluctantly so, she moves her gaze away from the intoxicated duo to reprimand the kids.

Laurie finally turns to face Steve then, her expression soft and brows knitted together slightly and for a second he almost forgets why he wanted her attention in the first place because Christ, she's pretty. He could stare at her all day if he could; count the faint freckles on the apples of her cheeks that dance across to the bridge of her nose, admire the way her ocean blue eyes twinkle when she looks at him, kiss her till he can't breathe and his chapped lips go numb.

Steve eventually snaps out of his thoughts after Laurie mumbles his name, her hand finding purchase on his scarred knee and he almost convinces himself it's there for any reason but as an attempt at steadying herself against Dustin's horrible driving. Steve runs a stray hand through his messy locks and he exhales, "Laur, we are so gonna get pulled over for this.. and my dad is gonna beat my ass if I get another speeding ticket,"

"Wait- another?" The girl repeats, eyebrows raising a little too much and Steve feels flattered that she can't fathom him being irresponsible in his fancy ass car. "You have speeding tickets? Like.. plural? Like, as in more than one? You've gotten pulled over more than once?"

"Yeah. I got like.. a billion, Laur," Steve slurs, waving his hand in the air carelessly. Play it cool, asshole, he tells himself, girls like that bad boy shit. "I got places to see, people to be,"

Okay, yeah, Steve's bullshitting. He knows that, hell, Laurie probably does too. She could call him out, say he's a liar and prove him wrong considering Steve's definitely expressed during one of their late night phone calls that part of him feels like he's stuck in Hawkins, that he's destined to stay here for the rest of his life and how it makes him feel.. lonely.

But she doesn't, thankfully enough, and instead, Laurie blinks lazily at the boy before saying, "I don't think that's how the saying goes,"

"Uh, I'm pretty sure it is," Steve rebuts, eyes going narrow for a second like he's about to dismiss the girl further, but a breathy laugh escapes his lips instead and she grins at his failed attempt at faux annoyance.

Laurie shakes her head and that cute smile of hers spreads across her lips. "Nuh-uh,"

Steve nods and he hopes she doesn't notice his eyes flickering down at her lips. "Yuh-huh,"

Dustin suddenly swerves, causing the wind to be knocked out of Steve from of the way Laurie crashes into his chest. He groans as he shoots a glare at the back of Dustin's head. Steve's definitely not anticipating the day Henderson gets his learner's permit because he knows well enough that Dustin's mom is going to ask him to teach him how to drive.