ruby's body ━━ steve harrington

028. 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐮𝐥

Ruby sits forwards, her head hurting again.

"Why do you think him and Dustin thought they could fight those Russians? Because he's seen you do the same. You've given him too much courage."

She squeezes her hands into fists. She knows the Mind Flayer is saying this to make her weak, to try and get himself an in back into her mind, but still. She hates hearing this.

"He loves you too much. He's going to try and save you, and it's going to kill him. You and I both know it, Ruby."

Ruby looks over at Steve — at her perfect boyfriend, who she loves to death. He's watching the movie happily, blissful unaware of the war in her mind. This is what he always would've been like if she didn't let him get involved. She doesn't like hearing this, because the Mind Flayer's telling the truth. One day she won't be there to protect him, or he'll die for her. Either way, it'll be her fault. The love of her life, dead.

"Can you picture it?" the Mind Flayer says, and he begins to force into her mind the image of her boyfriend — he's coughing for air, his skin's covered in his own blood. A monster of some sort is attacking him, eating away at his insides—

Ruby gets up, and runs to the bathroom, puking into the closest toilet.

She wipes her mouth, but before she can even control it, she's balling her eyes out. What's the point in all of this? He's going to die for her. He's going to die. She knows it, she does. She wishes she could go back in time and stop him from finding out about any of this. She thinks back to that night at the Byers', and how she let him into the house, where the demogorgon was. God, she wishes she could go back, she wishes she made him leave.

Because now, here he is, bloody and bruised again, because she's let him into all of this mess! He sacrificed his life last year fighting those demogorgons, he told her he'd go into a burning building for her. She can't let this happen to him again! She can't count the amount of times he's put himself in harms way for her. For her! When she can protect herself!

"Rubes?"

Steve and Robin are standing there, in the doorway of the toilets. Ruby looks up. She looks at her boyfriend's face, as he frowns, confused why she's so upset. More tears run down her face.

"You're going to get yourself killed one day," she says, quietly.

He sits down next to her, clearly still high. "Hey, hey, hey," he says, and he puts his hands on her face. She's reminded of the popcorn he's been eating from the trash, and she takes his hands off. "You're so pretty."

Ruby rolls her eyes.

"This always happens," she says. She doesn't care he's too drugged to understand, she needs to say this out-loud. "You always get into these situations, and it's because I got you involved. This has nothing to do with you. It shouldn't have anything to do with you — or Dustin, or Nancy, or Jonathan. Hell, even Robin!"

Robin, who's been awkwardly stood there, raises a hand, about to wave.

Ruby glares. "Put the hand back down."

Robin, eyes wide, does as she's told.

"I'm just so tired." Ruby brings her knees to her chest, burying her face. "I'm so tired of fighting. Why can't someone else do this? Why—Why can't I be normal?"

"Is anyone truly normal?" says Robin.

Ruby could murder her. "Sorry?"

"Everyone has something that makes them weird, you know? Like, I was band geek in school. Some people are nerdy, other people like weird music... Everyone has something that makes them feel not-normal, but then, if everyone's not normal, can anyone be completely normal?"