𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐢 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 | steve harrington

chapter nine

Rory and Dustin Henderson had gotten along perfectly fine before she'd walked out on him. At age five (turning six if asked) she'd been confused about what having a baby brother meant for their perfectly constructed family. After all her mom made cupcakes on Sunday and let her lick the icing off the spoon and her dad, her dad was the best dad in the world.

Her dad drew pictures with her and named her stuffed toys and pretended to talk in silly voices. He read her books and rolled in the mud with her (gaining a scoff and rolled eyes from Nora). He'd hold her on his shoulders and buy her anything she wanted from the toy store, she'd always choose something fluffy. He'd wrinkle his nose at the idea of boys and make her laugh. He liked cats and black coffee. He worked hard but he was always soft and funny. She hated when he grew facial hair and Rory told him when he did that he couldn't kiss her cheek any more because it was scratchy.

He dropped her off at school, he knew the other dads. George Henderson was the perfect dad, her perfect dad. Rory didn't want him stolen away by this new baby, this new sibling. Rory didn't want to lose what she had with bedtime stories where he'd act out the characters and the days they'd run across the large field in Hawkins scaring the pigeons.

But Dustin didn't change things as much as she believed. Of course he was all Nora could think about. His chubby cheeks and small curls that grew faster than Rory's hair had. He had a gurgling laugh and spat out his food when he didn't like it. Sometimes he'd cry so loud that Rory would want to shove a pillow to his face but she loved him fiercely and would rock him back to sleep and tell him stories.

She tried to be like her dad and maybe that's why Dustin loved her so much. Rory would do silly voices and play with his toys. They'd make up stories and construct big productions with his robots and his bears. Dustin was often too young to understand certain things but she pushed him in his pram and told him about the world while Dustin listened with a cute face and small smile.

Rory had been there on his first day of school and she'd told him all he needed to know. He'd worn a shirt to look smart and his hair had been a birds nest but they'd walked hand in hand. Dustin had been four years old and Rory had been nine. At that point she was all grass stained knees and bobbly jumpers, her hair shorter by a mile and a gap between her teeth that braces would later fix. She was bossy and smart, liked playing tag with boys and memorised the way people smelt.

She waved him into his class full of numbers and colours and fun and Rory wanted to go with him. Dustin made friends with Lucas Sinclair first and later they'd meet Will and Mike in a forged brotherhood that would carry them through life. Rory would always be wistful of a friendship like theirs.

But Rory was Dustin's best friend.

They were closer than any of the other siblings despite the larger age gap. Nancy was two years younger than Rory but she was nowhere near as close with Mike, they weren't the same. Even Jonathon and Will didn't have the same charm, Lucas and Erica. No, Dustin was proud to call Rory his sister because to him, Rory was the coolest girl in the world and she was his sister. Not Mike's sister, not Lucas' sister, not Will's. Dustin's.

When Dustin was seven she taught him to ride a bike. She ran down the long winding pathways on rain soaked ground beside tall stretching pines. It was his second practice with no stabilisers, Dustin had received the bike for Christmas and it was the coolest, silver with brushings of blue and a basket that he'd use to carry comics to his friends. He'd told her not to let go, to keep holding on until the end of the path. Dustin hadn't realised she'd let go of the seat but she didn't stop, she ran beside him as Dustin pushed on the pedals and when he went over a stone she'd caught him. They'd laughed but from that point, he'd never needed her to hold the seat again.