I woke up, my whole body aching. I groaned as I tried to stretch my neck.
"Y/N? Are you awake?"
I looked over my shoulder, my breath getting stuck in my throat. "Steve?" I gasped. "Where. . . Where are we?"
"We're still under the mall," he sighed. "Those freaks grabbed you."
"You tried to stop them," I mumbled. "But they took you too."
"I couldn't let you get hurt."
I leaned my head against his, smiling when he leaned his head back against mine.
"How are we going to get out of here?" I asked, under my breath.
"We'll figure it out," Steve instantly reassured. "I promise, Y/N. We're gonna get out of here. I won't let them hurt you."
We both jumped when the door opened.
"You're awake," a guy in uniform said.
"What do you want?" Steve demanded.
"We want your employer," he said it like it was obvious.
"Our employer?" I asked. "But we. . . We work at an ice cream shop."
I gasped, cringing in pain when he fake-charged me. Steve instantly yelled at him to stop. The smirk on the Russian's face made my stomach drop. Steve just showed a weakness; me.
"Come in, Doctor!" He called out.
"Doctor?" Steve scoffed. "I don't think my insurance covers the copay."
Just then a creepy doctor walked in. Steve and I sent each other awkward over-the-shoulder looks before starting to laugh.
"I should tell you," I said as the doctor walked past me to the table, "I don't like doctors."
"Ohhh," Steve laughed as the guy took something out of his bag. "Fancy."
"Shiny!" I gasped dramatically when he unrolled the piece of leather. We slowly realized the seriousness as the doctor filled a syringe.
"What is that?" I asked, under my breath.
"Hey," Steve warned as the doctor walked towards me. "Don't. . ."
His warning turned into a yell when the doctor walked over to me. The doctor grabbed my neck and cut off my scream as he pushed the needle into my neck.
"What are you doing?!" Steve yelled. "What did you give her?!"
I let out a painful gasp as the doctor slowly pulled the needle out.
"If you hurt her," Steve started to threaten.
"No!" I yelled when the doctor grabbed another syringe and moved toward Steve. "Don't! Please don't hurt him!"
My heart bungee jumped into my stomach when Steve let out a pained yell. I held my breath as the doctor pulled his needle out of Steve's neck.
"Steve," I said his name shakily.
"I'm okay," he said, out of breath.
"What did you give us?" I demanded.
"Something that will help you tell the truth," the Russian soldier laughed.
"What the hell does that mean?" Steve scoffed.
"You gave us truth serum?" I taunted. "That's some crazy shit!"
Steve and I started laughing as they left. When the door slammed shut behind them, reality hit us. I bit my lip to stop the fear-filled tears threatening to spill. Neither one of us said anything for a while. Finally, Steve broke the silence.
"Y/N?" He whispered. "Are you okay?"
"I think so," I said shakily. "I still can't believe we were kidnapped by crazy Russians while dressed in our stupid sailor uniforms. Not to mention the fact that the Russians gave us that fake truth-telling serum shit."
"Do you think it worked?" Steve asked.
"I don't know," I shrugged. "Ask me something that I wouldn't answer if I was sober."
"What did you really think of Nancy?" Steve didn't hesitate to ask.
"The question you've been dying to ask me ever since you started dating her," I laughed. "But I've said it before and I'll say it again; Nancy is a great girl. I adore her. . . But even I could tell that she was going to break your heart."
"Really?" He stuttered.
"Of course," I shrugged. "You've always wanted to settle down in Hawkins and have a big family. You've always wanted to be the kind of dad you didn't have. You should be with someone who loves that idea. Nancy doesn't want to settle down. She wants to go off to New York or LA or some other big city and get a career."
"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Steve asked under his breath.
"Because you were happy," I sighed. "I didn't want to ruin that for you. Even though it killed me to see you happy with someone else."
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"I know that."
There was silence between us and my head started to throb. I looked over my shoulder to see Steve glancing at me.
"You okay?" I asked.
"I have to tell you something before the guy comes back," Steve mumbled.
"Okay," I whispered. "What did you have to tell me?"
We jumped when the door was roughly thrown open. I subconsciously leaned back against Steve as several Russian guards walked in.
"Are you ready to talk?" Their leader said in a thick accent.
"We have nothing to say," I scoffed. I gasped when he backhanded me.
"Don't touch her!" Steve yelled as he fought against his restraints.
"Who do you work for?" The guy demanded. "And don't bother lying to me."
"No one," I sighed. "We're just kids who work at an ice cream parlor in the mall."
"I told you not to lie to me, malyshka [little girl]," he threatened.
"Hey!" Steve yelled right as the guy took a step toward me. "Leave her alone! I'll tell you what you want to know but only if you leave her alone."
"Steve," I gasped. "Please don't do this."
"I have to," he whispered, glancing at me over his shoulder. "If I don't, they'll hurt you, Y/N. And I can't let that happen."
"But Steve. . ."
"It's going to be okay."
I screamed as two guards undid his restraints and started to drag him out of the room. I fought against the restraints, letting out a smile when I noticed that they were coming undone. I continued to work the restraints. My heart jumped into my throat, a sob close behind it when I heard it.
Steve's scream echoed down the hallway. I wanted to yell and cry and kill those men as I heard him in pain.
"Stop!" I yelled. "Please. Stop hurting him!"
Every time his screaming stopped and I started to relax, it started up again. I had tears streaming down my cheeks. I knew I would never be able to forget the sound of my best friend in so much agony.
As my anger built, I used it to free myself. I let out a sigh of relief as my restraints finally broke off. I leaned down and undid the ones around my ankles.
I jumped when the lock clicked. I grabbed the scalpel the idiots left in the room and prepared myself. My heart jumped into my throat when I saw the guards carrying Steve. I gasped when they threw him into the room.
"Steve!" I gasped as I dropped the scalpel and ran to him. I collapsed to my knees next to him. I rolled him over, my hands shaking.
"Are you okay?"
I gasped when he jumped up and wrapped his arms around me. I slowly wrapped my arms around him.
"They were gonna hurt you," he whispered.
"So instead you let them hurt you," I mumbled. "Steve. . ."
My heart clenched when he took a shaky breath. I tightened my arms around him and reached up, running my fingers through his hair which I knew calmed him.
"We'll let you think about your answers," the head guard chuckled, "now that you've seen what we can do."
Steve jumped when they slammed the door. "It's okay," I whispered. "We're safe. And we are going to find a way out of here."
"Y/N," he sighed.
"I promise," I said, pulling out of our hug.
I gasped when Steve leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. It took me a second before I slowly started to kiss him back. As our lips moved in sync, I reached up and gently held his face in my hands.
"I was going to tell you that I love you," Steve whispered, breaking the kiss.
"You were?" I stuttered. It was kind of hard to breathe as I wrapped my head around his confession.
"Yeah," he chuckled. "I love you, Y/N."
"I love the idea of settling down in Hawkins and starting a big family. But only if it's with you."
"Then we're perfect for each other," he smirked. "You said so yourself."
I made him gasp by pressing my lips quickly to his. I felt him smile before he started kissing me back. I broke the kiss, both of us breathing heavily.
"I love you too, Steve."