CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CAR RIDES

To say the atmosphere amongst the group was stressful would be to say the least.

Max was driving the car and Lucas was reading the directions. Aaron insisted that the idea Max could drive them all without killing them all was crazy. But the blond boy was pushed and forced into the car by Dustin. Aaron grumbling out protests as he did so.

Mike, Dustin, Aaron and Kimmy were all squeezed into the backseat of Billy's car, an unconscious Steve laying across them. Well, partially. The older boys head was in Dustin's lap as the curly haired boy made a fuss over his injuries, however Steve's limp legs were in front of him, tucked under Max's seat.

Aaron had tried take care of his own brother, but Dustin wouldn't let him. Insisting that Aaron wouldn't be able to fully clean all the bloody cuts and bruises on Steve's face properly without gagging or maybe even throwing up in the backseat of the car.

Kimmy didn't say anything but Dustin was probably right. Despite wanting to help his brother, Aaron wouldn't have been able to do so properly.

On the other hand, Kimmy was trying to fix the mess Billy had made of Aaron's face. The blond had a harsh purple bruise forming on his cheekbone as well as a busted lip and a bloody nose that would not stop.

However, Aaron was making Kimmy's job a million times more difficult than it needed to be when he kept looking away from her to check on his brother.

Kimmy sighed, grabbing his jaw and forcing Aaron to face her. "If I'm going to fix your cuts to the point they don't hurt anymore, I do actually need you to face me, Aaron. Believe it or not."

Aaron sent her an embarrassed glance, allowing Kimmy to keep his head in place.

Sometimes, the boy would flinch his head out of her gentle grasp. But he'd always move it back to where Kimmy originally had it, as if only then remembering who it was actually touching his face.

It was obvious the busted lip the boy had was quite bad and quite a deep cut, the boy occasionally flinching or hissing quietly in pain as Kimmy tried her best to fix it with the clean cloth she had grabbed before the group left.

Kimmy frowned as she watched the boy squeeze his hands together tightly when he felt particularly hurt so he wouldn't cause a scene.

"You can grab my hand if it starts to hurt." Kimmy offered the boy in a whisper, very much aware of the others in the car with them.

Kimmy didn't expect the boy to agree, knowing how he was about people touching his bare skin, but she thought she should offer never the less.

Yes, the two technically had held hands - twice. But Kimmy wasn't really sure if that meant the boy was comfortable enough with it now for her to just do so unannounced. She thought it'd be better to ask.

Aaron looked right at her with an unreadable expression, thinking over his options. This causing Kimmy to grow slightly uncomfortable as she focused her attention on his deep cuts on his lip instead.

The two were already extremely close, seeing as they had been squished into the back of the car. Four sitting in the backseat instead of three. Sure, it wasn't as bad as hours before when the entire group had been squashed into the police truck, but it still made a drastic difference. Forcing the twos faces closer together as Kimmy did her best to clean him up.

Surprisingly, Aaron took up on her offer, gently grabbing her hand, resting their now joint hands on her knee so the others wouldn't notice.

Kimmy did her best to hide her surprise, continuously cleaning the cuts so she wouldn't have to look him in the eye.

Although she could still see him from the corner of her eye, and he was still very much watching her.

"Sorry," Kimmy mumbled as the boy flinched back, his face scrunched up in slight pain.

Aaron shook his head at her, trying to say it didn't hurt, but obviously it had because he was gripping her hand so tight she was surprised she wasn't wincing.

Kimmy didn't get to clean up Aaron's face properly because Steve stirred, a tired expression on his face as he began to slur his words. Aaron turned away from Kimmy instantly, dropping her hand in the process.

Kimmy wouldn't ever say so, but she secretly cursed the older Harrington from adverting Aaron's attention away from her.

"Nancy?" Steve slurred, glancing to Mike who was sat next to Dustin.

Mike snapped his head down to look at Steve, an offensive look carving on his features as his brows furrowed.

Steve groaned out in pain, placing his hands to his face.

"No, no," Dustin grabbed the boys hands away from his face, a reassuring smile on his face as he tried to keep him calm. "Don't touch it."

Steve shifted his gaze over to Dustin, the curly haired boy instantly in his face as he began talking to him.

"Hey, buddy..." Dustin shushed the older boy, Kimmy furrowing her brows in confusion as to what the hell Dustin was trying to achieve by talking to Steve like he was a newborn baby. "It's okay, you put up a good fight."

"Yeah," Aaron nodded from the other side of his brother, Steve looking to Aaron with a hazed expression. "The guy kicked your ass, but you put up a good fight at the start."

Steve looked away from his brother and to the front seat of the car where Lucas was giving Max directions, as if his senses were only just then coming back to him.

"What's going on?" Steve slurred, it was silent for a moment, but Steve's eyes soon grew wide and he tried to shoot up in his seat. "Oh, my god!"

"Relax," Dustin tried to calm the boy with a shush once more. "She's driven before."

"Yeah," Mike scoffed with an eye roll. "In a parking lot."

"That counts!" Lucas defended from his spot in the front seat.

"I knew this was a bad idea!" Aaron snapped at his friends. "We're all going to die with her driving-"

"Oh, yeah," Kimmy scoffed at Aaron, motioning to Steve who was quickly growing stressed. "Because that's going to keep him calm, Aaron."

"They were going to leave you behind," Dustin told the boy, much to Kimmy's horror. The group had decided it was best to keep Steve as calm as possible when he woke up, but it seemed that Dustin and Aaron were doing the opposite. "I promised you'd be cool, though. Okay?"

Steve was most definitely not cool about the situation.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Steve yelled, Kimmy could see the panic on his face even with his face black and blue with bruises and coated with blood. "What's going on? Oh, my god! No, stop the car! Slow down!"

"I told you he wouldn't be cool with it!" Aaron yelled at Dustin over his brothers yells of panic.

"Stop the car!" Steve practically screamed.

"Everybody shut up!" Max yelled from the front seat of the car. "I'm trying to focus!"

"Oh, shit!" Lucas gasped, looking away from the group at the back and back down to his map. "Make a left."

Max glanced to him with a look mixed of panic and confusion. "What?"

"Make a left!" Lucas yelled, Max cursing under her breath as she took a sharp left. The car crashing into something on the side of the road in the process.

Everyone in the car let out a scream and Kimmy was sure for a moment that the car was going to flip over.

"What the fuck!" Aaron screamed from next to Kimmy, gripping onto the girl as he was thrown into her with Steve being thrown into him.

"I told you guys she wouldn't be able to drive!" Aaron continued to yell, Steve gripping his brothers leg tightly as he too began to panic. "She's going to kill us!"

"We're fine, Aaron!" Lucas dismissed from next to Max. But he was very obviously startled.

"No we're not!" Aaron retorted, still gripping onto Kimmy's arm tightly as he yelled. "Look at us! My grandma could drive better than this and she's been dead for eight years!"

"Shut up, Aaron!" Max yelled from the front seat, clearly frustrated. "I'm trying to focus, I just said that!"

...

When the group arrived, Aaron rushed to scramble out of the car, Kimmy rolling her eyes as she left the car calmly.

Max ran up to Kimmy with a wide grin, giving the brunette a high five as she laughed. "Did you see that? It was awesome!"

"Yeah," Kimmy laughed in response as the two girls made their way to the trunk of the car. "It was pretty cool."

The group began to put on goggles on their faces, pulling gloves onto their hands and wrapping bandanas around their mouths.

The group then grabbed the cans of gasoline that they had grabbed from the Byers' shed, Kimmy and Max making their way over to the hole in the ground as they waited for Mike to put the plan into motion.

Mike took the rope in his hands and tied it to the front of the car tightly, ensuring the group could make their escape.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" Steve yelled at Mike, the younger boy ignoring him. "Seriously, we are not going down there. I made myself clear!"

Steve went to say something else but Dustin grabbed him, talking him down from his frustration as he did his best to convince Steve to come along.

After a moment, Kimmy watched Steve sigh, shaking his head as he grabbed his nailed bat and put on his gloves and goggles while also pulling on some gloves.

Mike, Max and Lucas had all already jumped into the hole, Kimmy going to follow them until Aaron stopped her.

"Um, do you think we're going to be okay?" Aaron asked her hesitantly.

Kimmy wasn't surprised the boy was having his doubts, he hadn't liked the plan from the start.

"We'll be okay," Kimmy nodded, although she couldn't promise anything. "I'll stay with you."

The boy hesitated, turning to look at his brother who was now also getting dressed in his protective gear. Aaron sighed at the start, reluctant to nod at Kimmy's words.

"Okay," he muttered, nodding at the girl. Kimmy couldn't see his face that was hidden with his bandana, goggles and his black fluffy hat.

Kimmy nodded in response, jumping down into the hole, moving to stand with Max as she waited for Aaron to do the same.

Eventually, the boy did so, instantly moving to walk with Max and Kimmy so he wouldn't be himself. Kimmy waited for him just like she said she would.

Next Steve and Dustin jumped down, Steve stumbling on his feet slightly.

"I'm pretty sure it's this way!" Mike's muffled voice yelled out to the group, looking down at the hand drawn map in his hands with his flashlight.

"You're pretty sure, or you're certain?" Dustin scoffed, Mike snapping around to face with boy and although she couldn't see his face, Kimmy was pretty sure that Mike was pissed off.

"I'm one hundred percent sure!" Mike snapped in an annoyed tone. "Just follow me and you'll know."

Kimmy, Max and Aaron sighed as they followed the boy.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Steve yelled out in protest. "Hey, I don't think so!"

"What?" Mike asked in a puzzled voice.

"If any of you little shits die down here I'm getting the blame. Got it, dipshit?" Steve retorted, grabbing the map from Mike's hands and moving to stand in front of him before turning to the rest of the group. "From here on out, I'm leading the way. Let's go!"

Instantly, the group of thirteen year olds went to follow him, Kimmy picking up her pace as she raced after the older boy.

Kimmy couldn't really see, she was just looking for Max's red hair to follow. The air around them was completely foggy, pieces of god knows what floating in the air.

Kimmy flinched as Dustin suddenly yelled out from behind her, falling to the group as it looked like those white specs had began attacking him.

"Shit!" Dustin cried out waving his hands frantically to try get the white specs in the air away from him. "Help, help!"

The boy stood abruptly, grabbing his tank of gasoline and trying to run to catch up with the group but falling in the process.

"What happened?" Steve demanded, pushing through the children to crouch in front of the scared boy on the floor.

"It's in my mouth! Some got in my mouth!" Dustin whimpered, Kimmy kneeling down next to Steve worriedly as she grew concerned of the effects that consuming something from the tunnels might have on the boy. "Shit!"

Dustin turned around, spitting repetitively and coughing rather dramatically. The boy was heaving, until suddenly he wasn't, the boy turning to face the worried faces of his friends. "I'm okay."

"Are you serious, Dustin!" Kimmy exclaimed with a frustrated sigh, allowing her shoulders to drop in some sort of relief at knowing Dustin would be alright.

"That's not funny, man." Steve scoffed, turning to walk away while shaking his head. "Jesus, what an idiot."

It wasn't long until Aaron tripped over one of the vines on the floor, letting out a grunt as he hit the floor.

Kimmy rushed to pull him up, no one but the girl noticing the boys fall.

Aaron was hyperventilating, causing Kimmy to grow concerned. The boy was shaking his head at her frantically, trying to take of the gloves he wore but Kimmy stopped him, trying to calm the boy down while still trying to look ahead as the group got further and further away.

"I need to take them off." Aaron shook his head, speaking in a fragile voice as he tried and failed to take his gloves off. "Please, I can feel all the slime and stuff on my hands. Dustin promised that the gloves would make sure I wouldn't get my hands dirty-"

"Aaron it's okay," Kimmy tried to comfort the boy, but she really didn't know what to say, she couldn't look at it from his perspective she didn't really understand. "It's okay- do you want my gloves? You can have mine."

Kimmy went to rip her gloves off but stopped when Aaron started talking again.

"No, it's all over my hands. It's sunk through!" Aaron panicked frantically, holding his hands out so they wouldn't touch the rest of him.

"It's okay, Aaron," Kimmy tried once more to reassure the boy. "It's not going to have any bad side effects. Dustin was okay."

"But-"

"I know it's not about that." Kimmy nodded, trying to sound understanding. "I know it's the germ thing. But we won't be down here for much longer, and then you can take the gloves right off, okay? Just... try and brave it, okay? And then you get to tell Steve and prove to everyone that you managed to push through what scares you the most."

Aaron was hesitant, still very much panicking as he looked to the girl doing her best to comfort him.

Kimmy bit the inside of her cheek, now beginning to panic herself as when she turned the group was no longer in sight.

"You can do it." Kimmy nodded at him, reaching her hand out for him to take. "But we really have to go. I don't know where the others are and I don't think it would be good for us to get lost down here."

Aaron took a breath and nodded in agreement, hesitantly taking her hand and allowing the girl to lead them through the tunnels in search for the others.

Kimmy let out a sigh of relief at the sight of Max's hair, running as fast as she could while pulling Aaron along behind her.

Luckily, the pair managed to catch up to Max before the group had even noticed their absence. Kimmy took this as a good thing, knowing that if Steve had noticed the two were missing he might have actually had a stress related heart attack.

"Alright, Wheeler." Steve sighed, as the group took a turn, ending up at the end of the tunnel the group at taken. The said tunnel the group were standing in leading to a circle of other tunnels surrounding it. "I think we found your hub."

Mike nodded, sighing as he motioned for Dustin and Max to follow him. Seeing as they were the ones with the gasoline tanks.

"Let's drench it." Mike announced, instantly walking to the middle of the hub and coating it in a thick layer of gasoline.

It wasn't long before the trio had the hub completely covered in the liquid. The small group walking back to stand with Lucas, Steve, Kimmy and Aaron who were watching from their spot in the tunnel.

"Alright, guys," Steve sighed when the three had returned back to stand with them. "You ready?"

"Ready." Lucas and Max nodded confidently.

Steve reached into his jacket pocket, taking his lighter out with some reluctance.

"Light her up." Dustin grinned at the older boy, nudging his shoulder.

Steve looked to Dustin and flicked the lighter, getting ready to set fire to the gas. The older boy sighed to himself, panting as he spoke. "I am in such deep shit."

Steve set light to the floor, instantly turning and ushering for the group to run while they had a head start.

The group were running frantically, Aaron now dragging Kimmy behind him as the two still had a firm hold on each others hands.

Everything was going to plan, and Kimmy thought the group really would make it. The rope they had stuck down the hole so they wouldn't get lost was in sight, but a harsh rumble to the floor caused the group to fall to the floor.

At first, Kimmy was confused, but that confusion soon turned into fear when the sound of monsters screeching in the distance got louder.

"They're coming." Mike panted in a panicked whisper before yelling out. "Run!"

The group scrambled to their feet, running in the direction of the rope as if their lives depended on it.

Steve was leading the group, the older boy stopping as he made it to the rope, ushering for the younger kids to go first.

One by one, the older boy helped each of them up the rope much faster than any of them had climbed down it. Everyone powered by fear of the monsters running their way.  

Aaron was up after Kimmy, and then it was just Dustin and Steve. But there had been too long of a pause between Aaron and Dustin in comparison to everyone else. Kimmy began to worry, although not as much as Aaron.

"Dustin, come on!" The boy yelled, reaching his hand out for the boy to grab after he'd climbed the rope.

Dustin didn't move, neither did Steve. The two looking straight ahead. Kimmy instantly knew something was wrong when Steve grabbed his bat from his bag, lifting it over his shoulder as he prepared to swing it.

Aaron gasped as Dustin flinched away, covering his face with his hands as he prepared for the worst.

But, surprisingly, the boy was fine. Steve didn't even need to swing his bat once. The demo-dogs running straight past the two at a rapid speed.

Steve grabbed Dustin, lifting him up as the curly haired boy was almost knocked down by the force of the monster running his way.

Kimmy was confused as to how both Steve and Dustin had managed to get out of the situation unscathed, the question on the tip of her tongue. However Mike answered it without the girl even having to ask.

Mike gasped quietly, Kimmy turning to look at him with a concerned expression as she watched t a look of panic pull on Mike's features. "Eleven."

The second the demo-dogs were gone, Steve pushed Dustin up to the others before pulling himself up. The two boys panting worriedly.

Kimmy watched Aaron stand and instantly rip his gloves off that were covered in slime. The boy grimacing as he looked down at his slimy hands, Kimmy rushed over to him, taking off her own gloves, keep ahold of the clean one that was not covered in slime - the one that she hadn't held Aaron hand with.

Kimmy scrunched the clean glove up, grabbing ahold of Aaron's hands without saying a word. Scrubbing his hands frantically as she worked to clean them for the boy.

It didn't take long for Kimmy to rid his hands of slime, dropping her now filthy glove to the ground and wiping her hands on her clothes as she smiled to the shocked looking boy.

"Thanks." Aaron mumbled, looking to the girl with pink cheeks.

Kimmy didn't get a chance to reply, instantly turning and shielding her face as the lights from the car suddenly burned much brighter than they should have, leaving the entire group covering their eyes and looking away.

...

I'm super excited for the next few chapters, I already have the snowball written!!!!!

I can't believe I got season 2 written in 10 days when it took me forever to get season 1 written, but season 1 is my least favourite season so I think it maybe took me longer because it kind of dragged on lol.

Anyway season 2 obviously isn't done yet, I still have a few more chapters, like the ones leading up to the snowball, the actual snowball and then the chapters tying season 2 to season 3.

ALSO I AM SO EXCITED FOR SEASON 3 in my opinion it's Aaron and Kimmys best season🤭🤭🤭🤭

hope everyone enjoyed the chapter!!!

- AJ :)