CHAPTER FORTY-NINE ; FOR STELLA

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"Stella, holy shit," Steve wormed his way through the group, breaking into a run so that he could embrace his girlfriend. Stella inhaled sharply and moved as quickly as she could, meeting him in the middle. "Holy shit."

"Steve," Tears streamed down Stella's face as she took Steve by the hand, staring up at his face. Her eyes widened at the sight of blood and bruises covering every inch of skin. "What happened to you? Are you okay? Where were you? I tried to call, but you weren't there. I had a feeling you'd be in the underground base in the mall, but I had no idea if that even existed, and-"

"He got his ass kicked by Russians," Dustin piped up from behind her boyfriend, and Stella felt the need to deeply sigh. She looked over Steve's shoulder and saw the curly haired boy, who thankfully wasn't covered head to toe in blood as well. He rushed forward and embraced Stella, grateful to see her again. "Jesus, what happened to you?"

"That's my line," Steve pushed him aside, staring down at Stella's elevated arm. "So what happened? Are you okay?"

"She got shot," Murray answered for her, and Steve spluttered, his jaw dropping considerably.

"Badass," Robin whispered softly, though only Erica Sinclair heard (she elbowed the older girl softly in response).

"Are you kidding me?" there were tears in Steve's eyes. "Listen, Stella, I'm so sorry. A-About everything."

"Me too," Stella instantly replied, gripping his hand tight. "I love you so much, Steve."

"I love you too," he sniffled, staring down at her as if she were the only person in the world. In truth, she was in that moment. "I'd follow you anywhere. I don't want to lose you again, I take back everything I said. I'll come to Rhode Island with you, I'll follow you to the ends of the earth if it meant I could always be by your side."

Stella rested her head on his shoulder, trying to contain herself (she wasn't doing a great job). "We'll talk about it later, okay?"

Steve nodded a few times, before grabbing the sides of her face and pressing a kiss to her lips. He was wary of her shoulder, though Stella still winced at the movement. She pulled away briefly, kissing him once more and smiling softly.

"So this is Steve?" Murray stepped up from behind Stella, reaching his hand out for the teen to shake. Steve quirked an eyebrow and greeted Stella's new friend, who grinned broadly. "You had her so worried."

"Did I?" Steve smirked a little, nudging Stella softly, causing her to roll her eyes. "So what happened to you?"

Stella's face fell, and she glanced over at Murray through her eyelashes. His smile had dropped too, and he cleared his throat before excusing himself, walking towards the rest of the group who were having their own little reunions.

Steve tilted his head in confusion, looking over his shoulder momentarily before ushering her to a secluded area of the food court so that they could talk. He helped Stella sit down on one of the plastic chairs outside the orange juice stall, his hand on her knee as he sat beside her. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

Stella dipped her head, already feeling the tears rising once more. She was sick of crying; it seemed to be all she had done that day. "Joyce found me outside Hawkins Lab and brought me to Hopper's, where we went looking for answers to all the weird shit happening in town. We found this Russian scientist called Alexei..."

She trailed off and sniffled quietly, lifting her good hand to wipe her eyes. Her skin was soaking wet within seconds, and she could feel her stomach clenching as she heaved in breaths. She grimaced as her shoulders began to shake, pain shooting across her body. 

GLORY DAYS 。STEVE HARRINGTONWhere stories live. Discover now