𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐢 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 | steve harrington

chapter twenty-seven

"What's happened?" Steve yelled as Rory dropped the phone in a sense of horror, "Rory what's going on?"

"I need to go" Rory grabbed her bag in a fluster of nerves and anxieties she didn't even know she could possess, snatching her hat off her head and throwing it against the couch as she ran out into the parlour.

"Rory you've gotta tell me what's going on" Steve grabbed her arm.

"I don't have time" Rory snapped wildly, "he's got Dustin Steve, I've got to go!"

"I'm coming with you" Steve grabbed the keys from the counter.

"No you're—"

"I'm coming with you" Steve stated simply as he pulled her forwards, grabbing the shutters and slamming them with such force that many people within the mall turned to stare at the two workers in stupid uniforms. He locked it, shoving the keys in his pocket before the two of them turned and broke into a run.

Rory had never run so fast in her life, she raced ahead of Steve with people turning in every direction to stare. She sprinted like her life depended on it and her heart was moving even faster than her as it screamed blood through her veins in a general sense of panic. Steve was close behind, heavy breathing alerting his presence as they skidded round the corner and almost lost their footing with the scraping of rubber soles against the freshly cleaned laminate.

She shoved into the outdoor air and down the steps into the parking lot. Rory could feel her lungs gasping for a sense of release but she could also see her brother and hear his shaking voice in her mind asking why this was happening to him. It made her want to scream, it made her want to die because she couldn't help but feel that she'd caused this, that she'd made a simple situation all the worse by threatening the one man that had left her mind forged with bruises and how to pretend they weren't there.

Rory ran so fast her heart threatened to stop and she didn't stop until her hands collided with her car.

"Mines faster" Steve spoke easily.

"We don't have time for this" Rory shook her head as she fumbled for her keys.

"Rory you're in no fit state to drive you're shaking—"

"Of course I'm fucking shaking!" She yelled before her keys hit the floor, "shit!"

"I'm driving" Steve snapped, "that's it, I'm driving"

He turned and ran to his car and Rory cursed, snatching her keys from the floor and grazing her fingertips before she practically jumped over the hood of her car to follow him.

It felt wrong sitting still, she had to bounce her knee just to feel the same rush of adrenaline and she wished that she could sprint the whole way home, wished it wouldn't take her so much longer.

Steve wasted absolutely no time in spinning the car around and hitting his foot to the floor. Rory didn't think about cops or the consequences of them being stopped because as the sights of Hawkins flew past her window her mind was completely glued to the idea of her brother and nothing was going to tear her away from him.

Steve took corners like he'd been born to drive, overtaking literally everyone while horns blared and people shouted. He almost ran over a couple on a crossing but didn't seem to care, his eyes were set and his fists clenched so tight on the steering wheel that his knuckles were shockingly white. Rory knew how much Steve cared about Dustin but she wasn't sure she'd really seen it until that moment.

She didn't wait for him to park before Rory had thrown herself out the car, almost falling over her own legs as she ran for the house. The sound of Steve braking was a horrible screech and she heard him slam the doors as he followed her towards the house. She was out of breath, two seconds away from screaming but she was in sight and as she threw open the door and let it hit with an echo off the opposite wall, she allowed herself to let some of that anxiety go.