July 1st, 1985
BILLY NEVER TURNED UP. AVEN would've waited in the Starcourt parking lot all night if it wasn't for Steve, who pulled her off the side of the curb and led her to his BMW with a trusting smile. She really was annoyed that her brother hadn't given her the time of day, and had broken his promise as if it meant nothing. However, unbeknownst to her, Aven was all Billy could think about whilst he internally battled the Mind Flayer. He could feel himself giving up, surrendering his body and soul to the interdimensional monster, but there was one thing keeping him alive, one person - Aven Hargrove.
Steve Harrington had driven the girl home that night, parking his car across the street as she stared over at the empty looking house. She knew Max wouldn't be there, because she'd visited the ice-creamery earlier and informed Aven of the exciting sleepover she and Eleven had planned. What she didn't know was that both Neil and Susan would be gone, and Billy too. She had the house to herself, but that wasn't something she was looking forward to.
Thankfully, much to her delight, Steve had offered to stay the night. He'd seen the girl tense up once they entered her run-down home, and noticed her fidgeting fingers as they walked through the eerily-silent, suburban house. He knew his house was empty too, and didn't like the idea of spending another night, alone, in the huge house he called home. That explained why they were cuddled up together, once asleep, in Aven's bedroom.
"I'm hungry," the girl murmured as she stared into Steve's eyes, her hands fiddling with his messy hair as she combed through its small knots.
"No," he whined as he pulled her closer, squeezing a giggle out of her as he hugged her tighter. "I'm comfortable."
"I never said you had to follow me," she justified as she tried to pull away, but he didn't budge. With one hand wrapped around her waist and the other around the back of her head, he somehow managed to gently keep her close to him without much force. It probably helped that Aven wasn't that strong in the slightest.
"You can't leave me here," he playfully cried as he started to dramatically sob, burying his head in her neck as she laughed.
"By all means, Steve, follow me. I'm getting breakfast, whether you like it or not," she whispered softly. With a groan, Steve ultimately let her go, slowly trailing after her towards the kitchen as he rubbed his eyes and stretched out his arms. "Bit sleepy there, Stevie?"
"Shut up, Aves," he mumbled through one of his yawns, falling into one of the seats at the counter as Aven shuffled through the limited food in the fridge. She pulled out a loaf of bread and turned around, facing a half-asleep Steve with a grin as she presented the food like a trophy.
"Toast?" She asked politely, stifling a laugh as the boy across from her haphazardly threw up one of his thumbs with a lazy grin. "Toast it is."
𖨆✫᯾☏︎᯾✫𖨆
After finishing their toast, one more quickly than the other, the couple got ready before leaving the small townhouse, heading to the beloved mall of Hawkins so Steve could earn his daily wage. Aven had the day off, and so did Atlanta, due to the record shop not being open on Mondays. They didn't know why, but they didn't question it. A day off was enough to keep them quiet.
"I just don't understand what it could possibly mean," Aven pondered aloud as they walked through the buzzing mall, carefully dodging ignorant teenagers who took up the whole pathway without a thought.
"I don't know. I'm more focused on the fact it came from here. I mean, why Hawkins?" He paused as he processed his wild thoughts, pulling Aven to the side of the walkway as his eyes widened in realisation. "You don't think . . ."
"No, there's no way. How would the Russians know?" She fired back worriedly. It made sense, why else would the Russians be in the small town of Hawkins unless they knew the big secret? But, how would they've found out?
"The Russians know everything, Aven. Everything," Steve stated incredulously as Aven ducked her head, hiding her smile from the serious boy in front of her. "They probably know who we are, what we do, where we live . . . they could murder us!"
"Steve! Calm down, okay. Robin and I can figure it out today whilst you deal with the ice-cream, or-" the girl dragged out as she glanced around the mall with a knowing smirk.
"Or what, Aven?" He queried nervously, shaking her shoulders to get her to focus back on him and explain what she was thinking.
"Or you could go on a little spy trip and find them yourself," she suggested with a grin, watching as his jaw dropped with exasperation. He tried to stutter out a response, but he couldn't even get as far as saying a full word. It was all quite entertaining for the girl across from him.
"That is- no way. Did you not just hear me? I could get murdered. M-u-r-d-e-r-e-d. I could die, and you're willing to risk that!" He whisper-yelled with disbelief, running a hand through his hair anxiously as his eyes darted between all of the passers by looking into all of the open stores gleefully. He wished he was that innocent.
"It'll be fine. If Dustin's there, he'll happily go with you," she added comfortingly with a soft smile before placing a hand on his back, leading him out into the crowd again as they continued to walk towards the blue shop.
"What's he gonna do? He won't even be able to talk his way out of it," Steve grumbled as they approached the ice-creamery, crossing his arms to make his annoyance known.
"Go sling ice-cream," Aven told him as she patted his back, leaving him to deal with the customers as she walked into the back room with a smile.
𖨆✫᯾☏︎᯾✫𖨆
"I've got it!" Robin cheered as she burst through the doors, pulling a surprised Aven off the counter by the hand and dragging her out of the shop.
"Guys, you're not gonna believe who Dustin thought was a Russian," Steve teased as the pair stepped into the ice-creamery, only to be knocked to the side by the two girl's sprinting in-between them.
"Sorry!" Aven called out sincerely as she tried to turn around, but ended up slightly tripping over her own feet. She barely had time to catch herself before Robin was pulling her up to one of the tables, standing on it before spinning around to look at the different shops.
"A trip to China sounds nice," Robin repeated before pointing towards Imperial Panda, glancing at Aven with a knowing grin. Following her finger, the confused girl squinted her eyes as she looked towards the shop, her thoughts running wild as she tried to piece together the puzzle. Suddenly, all at once, it clicked.
"If you tread lightly," Aven whispered excitedly as she began twirling around on the spot, tapping Robin's shoulder whilst frantically pointing towards Kaufman Shoes. Bouncing on the spot, the pair continued to crack the code by pointing out different shops around the centre of the mall, ending on the blue and yellow hands on the clock above the exit with gratitude. "We did it!"
"Aven! Robin! What are you doing?" Steve called out as he and Dustin bounded over to the pair, the boy reaching up to take Aven's hands.
"She cracked the code," Aven cheered as she gratefully placed her palms in Steve's, interlacing their fingers as she jumped off the high table.
"We cracked the code, actually," Robin insisted as she jumped onto the ground, looking between the two boys with a proud grin.
𖨆✫᯾☏︎᯾✫𖨆
"Look for Imperial Panda and Kaufman shoes," Robin shouted over the rain, the small group peering over the small wall to keep an eye on the squad of armed Russians suspiciously pacing beside the abnormally large truck.
"I did not sign up for this," Aven mumbled beneath her breath, pulling the hood of Steve's raincoat further up her head as she shuffled closer to the boy. Feeling the girl move closer to his side, he tilted his head in her direction to offer her a comforting smile, pressing a kiss to her cheek before she leant her head against his shoulder.
"They're with that whistling guy, ten o'clock," Dustin informed them whilst eyeing the man through his binoculars, pointing towards him so the others could identify who he was talking about.
"What do you think's in there?" Steve asked loudly, pushing his wet hair out of his face for the fifth time that night.
"Guns, bombs?" Dustin listed seriously, Aven furrowing her brows nervously as the younger boy spoke with such confidence.
"Chemical weapons?" Robin added.
"Whatever it is, they're armed to the teeth," Dustin managed with irritation clear in his voice. At the sight of the armed Russians, all holding guns bigger than the youngest teen among them, they all shuddered. Whatever they were planning to do just got a lot harder.
"Great. That's great," Steve jokingly nodded as he wiped the rain out of his eyes.
"Hey, what's in there?" Robin outwardly asked as she pointed towards the opening door, numerous men walking into the distant room in which only Dustin could see into.
"It's just more boxes," he answered with a groan, adjusting his position on the slippery cement as Steve moved to grab the binoculars.
"Let me check it out." The statement alone started a fight between the two boys. Aven, who was sitting in-between them, instantly lifted her head off Steve's shoulder and tried to pry their hands off the rare find, scolding them as they refused to listen to her. The loud fight ended in the sight-seeing device being banged against the wall, causing all the Russians to look up towards the sound.
The four teens gasped, Steve instantly handing the binoculars to Dustin as he pushed Aven's head beneath the wall. Luckily, they didn't get caught. Unluckily, they got nowhere in their Russian investigation.
1697 words