𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐔𝐒𝐓 ― s. harrington ¹ ✓

| seven

"Hey," Serenity greeted as Lucas and Max walked up to them. She held out her arm, and Lucas instantly sunk into her side. Serenity allowed him to hug her for a moment before he let go. "How are you?"

"All right," Lucas responded.

"Hi, Max." Her eyebrows then knit in confusion. "Wait, why are you here? I don't mean that in a rude way, I'm glad you are, but—"

"I told her."

Serenity blinked. "Oh, okay." She grinned at Max. "Welcome to the Party, where we deal with dangerous things from a parallel dimension."

Dustin didn't look as happy as Serenity did. He took Lucas' arm and dragged him away, presumably to have a chat about why Lucas had told Max everything. Serenity let out a breath as she watched them go behind a car.

"So, uh, what are we doing?" Max inquired, looking a little out of place.

"Finding pieces of wood and scrap metal to barricade ourselves in," Steve answered, putting his sunglasses back on. "We'll be in this bus while we wait for Dustin's pet to show up."

The three of them instantly dispersed to find what they needed. Serenity put the backpack down in the bus and took off her leather jacket, leaving her in just her blue sweater. She started to drag sheets of metal and wood over to the bus.

"Hey, dickheads!" Steve yelled, and Serenity looked to see that he was standing by Dustin and Lucas, who were still talking. "How come the only ones helping me out is 'Renity and this random girl? We lose light in forty minutes. Let's go. Let's go, I said!"

"All right, asshole!" Dustin stated. "God!"

Serenity reached up and took all of her hair in her hands, tying it back into a low ponytail with a hair tie that had been on her wrist. She had no idea that Steve was watching her do so, a small but adoring smile on his face. This whole new revelation, it was making him feel . . . fluttery. It was unlike anything he'd ever felt with Nancy or any other girl before.

He kind of liked it.

The group of five continued to find things to help barricade the bus. They put some old fencing on the windows, tires on the roof, and barrels in front of it to make sure the Demogorgon wouldn't climb under the bus. Serenity helped Max carry a ladder to the inside of the bus that would stick out of the emergency exit on the roof. Steve put a trail of gasoline from the pile of meat to the front of the bus, because the one thing that the Demogorgon hated was fire.

As time went on, the sun started to set, making the sky a pretty orange color. When the sun was almost dipped below the horizon, they all climbed back inside the bus. Serenity was the last one inside, glancing around at the junkyard nervously before closing the door behind her.

"Be careful, Lucas," Serenity told him as he climbed up the ladder. "I didn't bring any Band-Aids, so if you fall, we've got nothing."

Steve let out a small laugh as he sat on the floor. "God, you are such a mom."

"Shut up."

Serenity sat on the floor next to him, tucking her knees up to her chest. Dustin was pacing around while Max sat on one of the old seats. Serenity watched, almost in a trance, as Steve flicked a lighter on and off. The sun had fully disappeared, leaving the junkyard in darkness with fog moving closely to the ground.