[REWRITING] When He Sees Me, Steve Harrington

027 Planck's Constant

     "We get to Starcourt and make sure they're okay," Steve says matter-of-factly, fingers drumming against the steering wheel with impatience. Laurie only wishes it were that simple.

     Laurie's gaze meets Robin's then, and the girl situated in the back seat widens her eyes, a silent plea for Laurie to coax Steve out and away from his reckless tunnel vision. She swallows harshly, before saying, "We get that, Steve, but.. then what?"

     Steve pauses for a moment. "Then we head back to Weathertop and they head to Murray's,"

     "And if the Mind Flayer is at the mall?" Laurie quickly follows, somewhat feeling guilty for even entertaining the idea.

     The smell of burnt rubber fills Laurie's senses as Steve makes a tight turn on the pavement. "Then.. we'll distract it," Steve breathes out. "Make sure Nance and Jonathan and the kids can get the hell out of there in one piece,"

     Getting from point A to point B is a much easier pill to swallow in theory rather than in practice. Laurie knows that the odds have been stacked against them all night long, and even with Steve's profound level of confidence, she can't ignore how impossible it all seems that they're going to be alive by sunrise.

     "And how exactly are we gonna do that, dingus?" Robin inquires, popping her head back between the two in the front seats. She turns to her coworker and snarks, "You gonna charm the Mind Flayer with your perfect hair and boyish smile?"

     Steve shoots her a glare through his peripheral. "Your loud mouth might do the trick,"

     "Okay, asshole—"

     "Would you two stop?" pleads Laurie, voice bubbling and boiling with nerves. "Can we just stay focused? Please?" she says, and the two of them cease their erupting argument before it's even begun.

     "Look— I don't have a concrete plan, alright?" Steve lets out a huff, forehead creasing with his admittance. "We just.. I just gotta get them out of there, okay?"

     The distinction between the "I" and "we" is something that goes unnoticed by the freckled girl, who sinks back into her seat and starts fiddling with the unfamiliar walkie in her hands. Laurie, however, does notice, and she stares at Steve longer than she probably should.

     He's protective, she knows that better than most, but it's starting to frighten her at how far he's willing to go to keep his friends and the people he cares about safe. Throwing himself into the crossfires without a second thought, without an ounce of worry for himself or his well-being— Steve has seemingly become content with toying the line between life and death and it makes a pit form in Laurie's stomach at just the mere thought.

     "We can't just go in head first without a plan, Steve. It's not safe," Laurie tells the boy sitting in the driver's seat, trying her best to seem calm despite feeling like she's about to implode with anxiety. What part of any of this is safe? "Plus, what if they're already out? Maybe they're on their way to Murray's right now and we're risking our lives for nothing,"

     The Harrington boy spares Laurie a glance, much kinder than the one he gave Robin previously. "Mike's a little shit, but he would've answered Dustin's call,"

     Laurie bites the inside of her cheek. "Maybe he doesn't have signal or something,"

     Steve shakes his head, dismissive. "Those walkies can go for miles before losing signal, or whatever the hell it's called,"