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Valerie waved goodbye to Steve, before she turned around and unlocked her front door. She had noticed that the Chevy was parked in the driveway, as well as Adam and Dom's motorcycles, so she knew for a fact that her brothers were already inside waiting for her. With caution, she slowly entered the household and closed the door behind her.
Charlie was the first one Val laid eyes on as she approached the living room, but she knew that the other two were close by. He had his arms crossed in an act of disappointment, however, his facial expression depicted nothing but sympathy for her. He knew what kind of trouble she was in, and he was worried for how the other two would react.
Right on queue, Adam emerged from the kitchen doorway, with a beer in his hands. Based on the way he staggered over, Valerie could tell that it wasn't his first drink of the night, and that made her gulp nervously.
"So, you lied." He stated, bluntly. "Williams came into the garage today to get his car fixed, so I know for a fact that he wasn't with you."
Val's eyes grew wide, and she made a mental note to kick Remy's ass for not covering for her. "I, uh, I had originally asked him to come, but you see, his car broke down and we-"
"-Cut the bullshit!" Adam raised his voice, making Valerie flinch. "Where the hell were you?"
"I really was at the mall, I swear! It's just that I wanted to go by myself, and I knew you wouldn't let me go alone."
"You're damn right..." Dominic mumbled from his place in the kitchen. He set the table for a late dinner, but Val knew she wouldn't be hungry after this.
"So what? You thought you could just lie to all our faces and it would be that easy?" Adam questioned her. "Huh? You thought you could disobey the one rule that I gave you when I said to be home before dark?"
"I'm sorry." She apologized. "I lost track of time. They don't exactly have windows everywhere in Starcourt for me to see when the sun goes down, now do they?"
"That's what watches are for, Valerie." Dominic spoke up as he made his way over. "You know, to tell time."
"Does it look like I have a watch on me, Dom!"
"Hey! Watch your mouth, kid!" He barked, as he quickly got up in her face. "We were worried sick, you know that? And here you are acting as if it ain't a big deal."
"Because it isn't!" She raised her arms in the air in exasperation. "Did I lie? Yes. Am I sorry? Yes. But am I home now? Yes! What more do you guys want from me?"
"Val, maybe it would be best if you head up to your room for a little bit." Charlie calmly suggested. "I think we all just need to take a minute, and relax."
"I think you just need to stay out of it, Charlie!" Dominic spat. "You're always tryna be the peacemaker and take her side, but don't forget that Adam and I are the oldest, alright?"
Charlie just shook his head in annoyance and stood up from the couch, before he made his way over to Valerie and guided her towards the stairs. "Come on, Val."
"What the hell did I just say, man?!" Dominic yelled, yanking Charlie back by the hood, and shoving him to the ground.
"Hey!" Adam bellowed, and harshly grabbed Dom by the shoulders. "Knock-it off!"
"He started it!"
"Well, I'm finishing it." Adam stated, the authority coming out in his voice. "You wanna act like a child? Fine. I'll treat you like one. Go take your meds and then wait for me in the truck. We gotta job lined up for tonight."
Dominic scoffed, but did as he was told. The whole situation definitely blew out of proportion, but that wasn't new in the Rivers household. They all were a little stubborn in their own ways, and of course they fought every once in awhile. I mean, that is what siblings do. But no matter how heated they were all feeling right at that moment, everything would cool off by the next morning. It always did.
Adam let out a deep breath, before turning back to Charlie and helping him up off the floor. He then faced Valerie and scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry for overreacting." He apologized. "It's just that the boys and I got a threat from a gang across town, and its been stressing us out. If anything were to happen to you, I'd never forgive myself."
"I get it, Adam. I do." Valerie assured him. "But I just wish that you'd trust me enough to let me take care of myself once in awhile. I know its dangerous out there, so that's why when I realized that it was dark outside, I got a ride home from one of my friends at the mall."
"Which friend?" He gave her a look.
"Oh, uh," Val hesitated, before mumbling incoherently. "...Steve Harrington."
Adam instantly shook his head with a smile. "Of course." He chuckled, sarcastically. "Isn't that kid slinging ice cream nowadays, or something?"
"Yup." She laughed with him, and Charlie grinned also. "He even has a cute little sailor's outfit and everything."
The three of them joked around some more, before Valerie finally headed to her room after Adam and Dom left. She had just put on her PJs and got under the covers, before Charlie knocked softly on her door.
"Yeah?" She called out.
"Hey, it's me. Can I come in?" Charlie asked, as he leaned his ear closer to the door in order to hear her better.
"Sure." She replied.
He entered her room and was immediately hit with the view of dozens of band posters and records covering the walls. He smirked at the sight, before taking a seat on the foot of her bed.
"I was just curious about something." He explained, as he looked at her skeptically. "What's the real reason you went back to the mall today? I mean the ice cream can't be that good, right?"
She chuckled, before letting out a rather dramatic sigh and shaking her head. "Do you remember me telling you about the girl I had a crush on back when I was a sophomore?"
Charlie thought about it for a minute. "Oh, yeah. What was her name again? Buckwheat?" He teased.
"Ha ha, very funny. But it's Buckley." She corrected him. "And that's just her last name."
"I'm only kidding." He chuckled. "Her first name's Dove though, right? Or was it Raven? Phoebe maybe?" Val quickly picked up one of her pillows, and chucked it at his head.
"Okay, now you're just naming random birds! Her name is Robin."
"Ah, Robin. Yup, I definitely remember her now. Dude, weren't you like, head-over-heels for her or something?"
"Shut up." She whined, covering her head in embarrassment. "My point is, that she works at the ice cream parlor in the mall. That's why I wanted to go back so badly today. And...maybe why I want to go again tomorrow..." She murmured the last part.
"Val, you know the chances of Adam letting you go by yourself again are slim to none, right?"
"I know, but maybe he'll allow it if you promise to drop me off and pick me up?" She gave him her famous puppy-dog eyes. "At least you know that I'm just planning on staying at the mall. Its not like I'm going anywhere else."
Charlie groaned, and tossed the pillow back to her, before he stood up from the bed. "You're lucky I love you." He sighed, pausing at the doorway. "That, and the fact that I really want to see you finally score a date."
After that, they said goodnight and Charlie closed her door before heading off to his own room. Which left Valerie to shut off her bedside lamp, and succumb to the darkness.
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"Excuse me." Erica called out, standing in front of the register with her friends the next afternoon. "Ahoy!" She tried again, as she continued tapping the counter bell obnoxiously.
Robin was too busy reading through a Russian translation book, while listening to the recording over and over again in her headphones, so she tried to ignore the little girl. However, Erica was resilient and as stubborn as ever, so the sailor girl had no choice but to take her order. I mean, it was her job after all.
When Erica finally got her attention, she smirked in satisfaction before speaking innocently. "I'd like to try the Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl, please."
"No." Robin shook her head. "No more samples today."
"Why not?"
"Because you're abusing our company policy." She replied, matter of factly.
Erica rolled her eyes. "Where's the sailor man?"
"Sorry," Robin chuckled. "He cant help you. He's busy."
"Busy with what?" The girl questioned with an attitude.
"...Spycraft." She answered her simply.
And Robin was definitely correct about that, because outside of the parlor, Steve and Dustin were using binoculars to spy on the many customers shopping in Starcourt
"Do you see anything?" The curly-headed boy asked his partner in crime.
"Uh, I guess I don't totally know what I'm looking for."
"Evil Russians."
"Yeah, exactly." Steve replied. "I don't really know what an evil Russian looks like."
"Tall, blonde, not smiling." Dustin began listing off. "Also, look for earpieces, camo, duffel bags, that sort of thing."
"Right, okay, duffel bags."
"What are you both up to?" Valerie jumped out of nowhere into Steve's line of vision, nearly scaring the sailor into dropping his binoculars.
"Sheesh, Val!" Steve shook off his fright. "You can't just sneak up on us while we're spying on evil Russians. Not cool."
"Right." She smiled. "My bad, guys."
"Hi, Val." Dustin greeted her, just as she kneeled down behind the plants, and beside the two spies.
"Hey, Dusty." She greeted him back, and he gave her his famous toothless smile after hearing the nickname.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me." Steve spoke, after another minute of searching the crowd. "Anna Jacobi's talking with that meathead Mark Lewinsky."
"Dude, if you're not gonna focus, just gimme the binoculars."
"Aw, Jesus Christ, whatever happened to standards." Steve continued. "I mean, Lewinsky never even made if off the bench."
"Oh, my God. You are the worst spy in history, you know that?" Valerie snorted.
"Agreed." Dustin said, grabbing the binoculars from his hands. "Besides, I don't even get why you're looking at girls anyway. You have the perfect one right in front of you."
"What?" Val cut in, fear laced in her eyes. "I thought I already made it clear that I play for the other team?"
"I was talking about Robin."
"No, man, she's not my type." Steve shook his head, clearly frustrated with the boy's attempt at playing matchmaker. "She's not even in the ballpark of what my type is, alright?"
"What's so bad about her?" Val quickly grew defensive. "I think she's pretty awesome."
"Well, for your information, she's still in school, like you. And she's weird. She's a weirdo. And she's hyper. I don't like that she's hyper. And she did drama. That's a bad look. And she's in band?" He stated, cringing as he said the last word. "Pass."
"Now that you're out of high school, which means you're technically an adult, don't you think it's time you move on from primitive constructs such as popularity?" Dustin questioned him, and Valerie nodded her head in agreement. Although, she was dying on the inside. Not to sound possessive or anything, but she really didn't want Steve going after Robin, when she already had her eyes on the sailor girl first.
At that, Valerie stood up and left the two spies to their bickering, as she made her way over to Scoops Ahoy. She had decided that if Steve wasn't going to shoot his shot, she was definitely going to try...
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