Me, Myself, and Her

Chapter Seventy-Three

Chapter Seventy-Three: Tolerate It

They moved to be right outside the trailer. The others were kind enough to not sit right by the door and eavesdrop. Well, Lucas and Max had to pry Dustin from the door but everyone else was kind.

"Steve, would you please calm down?" Annie asked.

It was useless. Her older brother was still pacing, only his hands were no longer on his hips in a mother-like pose. Now, they were waving and gesturing all over the place.

"How can you think this is a good idea, Annie? So many things could go wrong! I am not letting you sacrifice yourself like this. I won't! It'll just end badly and I can't let that happen so we're going to figure something else out, something else to- to- to do this!"

"What else, Steve?" Annie asked, her voice loud enough to cut through Steve's ranting but she wasn't quite yelling. It did manage to get Steve to stop, though.

His hands went to his hips now that he wasn't pacing, and he shook his head. "I- I... I mean- we... we'd figure something else out!"

"That's the thing!" Annie breathed. "We don't have that luxury, Steve. We can't just sit here and plan everything out. Vecna needs one more gate, which means one more victim. If someone else is already picked out, then they're going to be taken very soon. We won't have a chance to save them! It's gotta be me, and you know it."

Steve licked his lips and shook his head again. "I refuse to believe this is the only option. You sacrificing yourself shouldn't be our only strategy."

"But it is." Annie took a step forward, the only one needed to close the gap between the Harrington siblings.

Automatically, their arms went around each other in a hug. Her eyes closed tight and she did her best to engrave this into her head. Steve did the same, praying to whatever higher being there was to make sure everything was okay.

Annie took a deep breath. "We can do this, Steve. I wholeheartedly believe in you guys. All I need is for you to believe, too. Because if you or anyone else has even a shred of doubt, things will go to shit."

Finally, Steve was nodding. "I know. God, I know. Doesn't make any of this any easier, though. It makes everything so much more stressful, actually." They pulled apart, but didn't separate too far. "Knowing that if any of us fuck up even just a little bit... it kinda makes this worse."

A small smile graced Annie's face, and Steve even found one making its way to his. "I know. But, maybe it's good? It'll keep you guys in line or something..."

The siblings didn't know what to say for a second. Annie finally moved, going to towards the door to Max's. However, she didn't go in like he thought. She turned and sat down on the front step.

"When... when we stopped by the house. It was forever ago, at this point, but..." Annie sighed, letting her head fall forward.

Steve moved and sat down next to her. "What happened?"

Annie sniffed. "First, Vecna made me hallucinate- it was you, actually, which would have totally freaked me the hell out if... if mom hadn't been home."

His face fell immediately. When she left their house and came out in a hurry, he knew something had happened. Then, he saw their mother and got even more concerned for what happened.

Of course, he never pushed. He didn't need to.

"I thought it was still part of Vecna's mind games, I really did. I was still on such an emotional high from that, that when I walked by the kitchen and heard her say my name... god, I really wish it had been a hallucination."

Steve put his closer arm around Annie's shoulders, and she leaned her head on his shoulder. Her hands were in her lap, picking at non-existent bumps, scabs, and whatever else. She just needed anything to do with her hands as she continued.

"It didn't take very long for us to start yelling at each other. She actually tried to be a parent to me, but it went terribly, of course. She's never around- neither of them are. How are they supposed to know what to do?" Annie wondered out loud.

Steve didn't interrupt, he just rubbed Annie's arm in hopes it made her feel better. As if anything would. But he had hope, and he tried.

"We... it got to a point where I was just screaming. Screaming about how sorry I was... that I wasn't their perfect child and that I didn't fix everything like they hoped I would. After, I didn't even give her the chance to say anything and left. That's why she was at the door. Probably why she's already back out of town."

It was when he heard Annie sniff that he realized she was crying. "Hey," he gently whispered, leaning down to see the tears he needed to wipe away. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. I wish I had been there to... I don't know what, but maybe just to be there."

Annie smiled up at him. "Thanks," she said, her voice wavering a bit. "You know the part that sucked the most? Even after I realized that it was really her, not some Vecna illusion, I didn't feel satisfaction. You always see people in movies feeling so satisfied after they 'stick it to 'em"... but I just felt like a living pile of shit."

He could help the snort that came out. "Wow, what an eloquent phrase there, Shakespeare." Annie gently shoved Steve. They laughed for a short second, then Steve spoke again after the silence. "But I get it. I... I think about telling them off, I do. I don't know if I have the balls to, though."

She shrugged. "I didn't think I ever would, either. I think the only reason I did is cause I didn't think I'd be around much longer," Annie whispered.

That phrase seemed to suck all life out of the air. Steve's initial thought was to immediately tell her that wasn't going to happen. But even he struggled to believe that was true.

So, rather than lie straight through his teeth, Steve settled for holding her closer. And, as always, Annie knew what he was trying to say. She could always figure it out.

They sat like that for a while, not wanting to disturb the moment, but they both also knew they couldn't do this forever. At some point, sooner rather than later, they would have to get up and face the music.

The music being how they were going to kill Vecna and hopefully save Hawkins from complete destruction. No pressure.

A/n: It's short, yes, but I do love a good Steve and Annie moment. I feel like I don't write a lot of long moments between them, and this felt like a wonderful moment to fix that. So, I hope you guys liked it!