CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
OVERTHINKING

After Kimmy had caught up with the others, she quite frankly had to force a certain sandy blond haired boy from her mind, knowing there were more important matters at hand than her feelings regarding that said blond.

The brunette wanted Aaron to come with the group, either that or she would stay in the mall with the others, at least it would save her some worrying. Kimmy didn't really want to leave the blond, she knew he'd be fine, but she wanted him with her. It may have been selfish of her to think so, but Kimmy didn't really care.

Instead she focused on the four walking ahead of her, nearly tripping over her feet as she did her best to keep up.

"Hey, Steve?" Kimmy yelled curiously at the boy who was leading the group out towards the mall exit. "I thought the Russian's took your car keys?"

"They did." Steve shrugged simply, not bothering to explain any further as he continued to walk at quite a rapid pace.

Kimmy scoffed at his answer, throwing her arms up frustratedly as she looked ahead dumbfounded.

Kimmy was puzzled beyond belief at what the older boy would supposably be driving, even further perplexed at how no one else seemed to be questioning it.

However the girls questions didn't go unanswered for too long, the second the exit doors were pushed open by the boy he began to laugh.

"Oh, man, now this..." Steve laughed, completely in awe as he exited the mall. "This is what I'm talkin' about."

Since Kimmy was behind the group, she couldn't really see what he was looking at until she too left the building. Her eyes widening when she did so.

A very expensive looking car was parked right ahead of them, Kimmy didn't know the exact brand, but with the way Steve had reacted she could have guessed it would be a big deal to drive it.

Her brows furrowed at the number plate - it was clearly a private reg, however she had no idea what it was actually meant to say.

"Toddfather?" Robin scoffed, clearly much less impressed than Steve was over the car.

"Oh, screw Todd!" Steve exclaimed excitedly, moving closer to the car to inspect it. "Steve's her daddy now."

Kimmy rolled her eyes in disgust at what Steve was implying. Sure, the car clearly was somewhat expensive, the girl had never seen a car like that in Hawkins before. Although, she didn't think that something such as a car deserved to be praised the same way Steve was praising it.

"How is a car that's not even for you that serious?" Kimmy asked utterly perplexed - no malicious intent behind her words, just curiosity.

"Why did you just talk about yourself in the third person?" Robin asked the boy bluntly next as the group made there way to the car doors.

"Did you just call yourself daddy?" Erica scoffed at Steve as she climbed in the car, Kimmy going into the car to sit beside her.

"Alright," Steve spoke in a clearly happy voice, completely ignoring the three girls who had spoken to him. "Where we going?"

"Weathertop." Dustin answered calmly from the backseat.

"Weather-what?" Steve retorted with his face scrunched up, going to turn in his seat to face the three in the back but halting when Dustin replied.

"Just drive." Dustin groaned in an annoyed tone, his voice raising slightly from stress.

"Okay. Jesus!" Steve snapped in a low voice, revving the engine before speeding off at such a swift pace that it had Kimmy clutching onto the car door as her eyes widened.

The girl was beginning to think that maybe the five wouldn't even get to Dustin's Cerebro if Steve continued driving the way he was, the most likely outcome would be that he'd crash the car into a ditch with everyone in the car with him.

...

Aaron was sat next to Lucas in the backseat of Mr and Mrs Wheeler's car, the group waiting for Nancy to start the car so they could leave the mall and get to some place Jonathan and Nancy had insisted they would all be safe at.

To be entirely honest Aaron wasn't really paying attention to anything, the blond had no idea where they were going despite being told, he was in a complete daydream, lost in his thoughts.

He wanted to go with the others to Dustin's Cerebro. Yes, he knew that Steve and Robin were coming back and were only dropping Kimmy, Dustin and Erica off and coming straight back.

However he couldn't help but fall into deep thought and worry.

The blond knew that most likely Kimmy, Dustin and Erica would be a million times safer than Aaron would be. Although this didn't put Aaron at any peace of mind whatsoever.

He had not wanted Kimmy to go away at all. Obviously he couldn't force her to stay with him if she didn't want to, but the boy was furious with himself for not trying harder to keep the girl with him, at least then he would definitely know she was safe and would save him all this worry.

Their first date had already been put off and he would be stupid if he would let that happen again.

However, now that the two were quite literally separated by the entirety of Hawkins, it was a little difficult for Aaron to actually make sure that it didn't happen again.

It sort of puzzled Aaron that the only person out of the entire group - including the seven he was currently sat with - that he was even remotely worried about was Kimmy.

The blond knew that even if she had stayed with him he'd still be worried about her, just drastically less. He'd have probably forced her to hold his hand the entire time so he knew for sure that she wouldn't try do something stupid.

Aaron knew he was overthinking things, but he could not for the life of him figure out why the girl was having such an effect on him.

He knew he liked her - that much was obvious. Although he couldn't help but feel like whatever it was he felt towards the girl was much stronger than both Steve and Kimmy herself realised. Probably much stronger than Aaron realised too.

But then Aaron had to remind himself that maybe he just liked her a normal amount, the blond hadn't ever liked a girl before and there hadn't ever been a girl that liked him before. Keeping that in mind, he really had no idea what he was feeling, and it didn't help that whenever he asked Steve for help the older boy told him that it wasn't a big deal.

It wasn't a big deal to Steve because he had liked and dated lots of girls, before he had began dating Nancy he literally had a new girl around to the house all the time.

Obviously Aaron was never introduced to any of them, they probably didn't even know Steve had a younger brother. But Aaron couldn't hold it against Steve that he used to be embarrassed of his younger brother, he supposed the older boy had changed over the past year and it wasn't like the embarrassment was anything new to the boy, it was quite obvious his parents were somewhat embarrassed of him too - always had been. It was just something he got used to.

Well, something he convinced himself he was used to. It had been going on for as long as the blond could remember and it still bothered him that his parents clearly didn't like him - it wasn't exactly something they tried to hide.

Aaron hadn't known this, but his two parents had called to check in on Steve every week, the youngest of the family hadn't known this until he caught his older brother on the phone with them.

Stupidly, Aaron had asked Steve if he could talk to his mom and dad that he hadn't seen since since before summer, however when Steve asked if Aaron could talk to them, it was as if suddenly the two were too busy and had to go.

Aaron tried to show Steve he wasn't bothered but he got the feeling that Steve could see how upset he was over it all.

The blond had tried to talk to his parents the next time they called, Aaron quite literally rushing to the phone before Steve could. It was his dad, reluctantly he said hello to his youngest before asking to talk to Steve.

Aaron could hear the two talking on the phone for well over an hour when he hadn't even been given a minute of his dads time. After that Aaron gave up trying to talk to them when they called.

Aaron knew that maybe he could understand the distance and all the neglect he faced from his parents if he had actually done something wrong to make them dislike him so much, but he couldn't think of one thing that he could have ever done to anger them so badly.

Maybe it was as simple as that Steve was the favourite child and Aaron had to suck it up and get on with it, however Aaron wished they could be a little more discreet with their blatantly obvious feelings about the two. It was as if they could hardly even tolerate Aaron.

The most likely outcome in Aaron's eyes was that maybe just like Steve had been, the two adults were embarrassed of him. To be completely honest the blond sometimes thought that maybe Steve was still a little embarrassed regarding his little brother, but that was probably just his insecurities talking.  

Still, it didn't help when it felt like everyone was embarrassed of him one way or another, some more than others. He knew he embarrassed his friends when he would freak out over the slightest of germs, he knew he embarrassed everyone with his germ thing. But he really had tried his best to get over it - he really had. But it was as if nothing worked, he supposed it was just something that would stick with him.

The only person who didn't seem to be embarrassed by him was the same girl he found himself worrying about. She never tried to make him feel stupid for it or even telling him to get over it. Yes, she tried to help him when he did go into a slight panic, but she'd never made fun of him for it. Maybe that was why he liked her so much.

But with that came this sort of fear, it was as if he was just waiting for the girl to see him the way he felt everyone else saw him and she'd freak out and she too would get embarrassed.

It was as if no matter who it was, they didn't even have to talk to him for any longer than a simple hello, and Aaron would already be assuming that they didn't like him.

The blond boy could not help it, he just felt like he wasn't all that likeable. It was difficult for him to think otherwise when he was constantly being reminded of his flaws. If his own to parents didn't like him, what sort of hope does that build for the boy? How could anyone expect him to feel anything but the worst about himself when he'd grew up in a household where he was constantly reminded that he wasn't good enough?

Perhaps he was overthinking it all, but then again it was as if that was the one thing he could pride himself on truly being good at - overthinking.

"Didn't your mom just buy this car?" Lucas' blunt voice dragged the blond from his slight dissociative state.

"Yes!" Nancy exclaimed frustratedly from the front seat, clearly stressed out beyond her limits. "I'm sure it's fine."

Nancy then tried starting the car again, the engine spluttering as the car refused to start, Nancy growing more and more frustrated with each second past.

"Did you leave the lights on?" Will asked curiously, clearly trying to help but only stressing Nancy out more.

"No." She replied bluntly, still trying to start the car.

Aaron didn't say anything, knowing the girl would end up snapping. The group did not exactly have any spare time to waste, they needed to leave as soon as possible and obviously Nancy knew this, only piling on the stress onto her shoulders.

Clearly, Lucas didn't feel the same way as Aaron, because not even a beat of silence had past and he was talking again.

"Do we have gas?" Lucas asked slowly with a blank face.

"Yes!" Nancy snapped, just like Aaron thought she would.

To be fair, the girl was handling the stress more than Aaron knew he would be, he'd have probably been snapping on everyone in the car whether they'd spoken to him or not.

Nancy let out a frustrated sigh, harshly going to try start the car again, only to be met with nothing once again.

"Okay, okay, stop." Jonathan told her as calm as he could, opening the car door and going to climb out the car swiftly. "Pop the hood."

Nancy sighed as he slammed his door shut, popping the hood of the car before she too went to climb out the car.

Aaron watched the two outside with a blank expression, completely exhausted after the two days he had had, just wanting to go home and go to bed.

However the blond knew that he would not be getting to sleep for a long time yet when the revving of another car engine could be heard as the car lights switched on. Aaron glanced out the window in hopes to see who it was, but with the lights on as well as how far the car actually was, he couldn't even make out the color of the car never mind the reg-plate.

The blond furrowed his brows as he moved his face closer to the window to try get a better look but was stopped when there was a loud banging on the opposite side of the car that Aaron was sat, the blond flinching as he adverted his attention around only to find Nancy frantically yelling at the group.

"Back in the mall!" She yelled rushing to open the car door and ushering for Lucas, Will and Aaron to leave the car before moving to the back where Mike, El and Max were. "Go, go, go! Back in the mall!"

Aaron was more than confused but did what he was told, rushing after Lucas and Will with Mike, El and Max behind them.

"It's Billy." Aaron could hear Max gasping to Mike, the girl clearly terrified.

Aaron's eyes widened at her words, turning to look behind him to see if he could see the older boy more clearly.

However he didn't get anymore than a glimpse because Lucas had grabbed his shoulder and was dragging him back.

...

Kimmy was sat with her head back against the top of the car seat, her eyes closed as she tried to block out Steve's rambles.

The car didn't have a roof, so with the mix of that as well as the wind as well as the speed Steve was driving, it was literally freezing. The wind hitting Kimmy's face harshly, the brunette was just glad that her shirt had long sleeves, at least she had some warmth on her arms.

Kimmy hated the summer heat, yes she had her shorts on which she already hated wearing in case any bruises would show up from her parents, but she also hated that all her summer t-shirts had long sleeves but she knew it was necessary.

She simply couldn't go out with short sleeves, she didn't want anyone seeing the lingering scars on her arms. It didn't leave much to the imagination on how she had gotten them, it was obvious she'd done it to herself.

Yes, Aaron knew that she had tried to kill herself, but that was only one time he knew about and he didn't know that she had tried to do it again even after the two had become friends. She didn't want him to know.

No, she'd never tried to do anything as drastic as jumping off the highest cliff she could find like she had done when Aaron caught her, however that didn't mean she had stopped trying to cut her life short in other ways.

She hadn't actually tried to kill herself in a long time, not since about August of the year before, a good eleven months. But that didn't mean she felt much better about herself she just had... distractions now. She had friends who would unknowingly cheer her up or take her attention off of her leering feelings.

She supposed she just had reasons to live for now.

As of that very moment, Kimmy couldn't imagine trying to kill herself again, she wanted to live now. She had good in her life now, she wasn't lonely.

Sure, she still had bad and negative things in her life, her home life was a huge negative factor. Although now she had friends, she wasn't home much anymore meaning she couldn't get in no where near as much trouble.

Kimmy just did her best to avoid her parents when she was home, usually they were too drunk to notice how long she was really away from home for anyway.

"How far is this place, man?" Kimmy heard Steve ask Dustin in a slightly annoyed tone, her eyes still closed as she listened.

"Relax," Dustin retorted, the curly haired boy sounded so fed up with the older boy that Kimmy could assume that he was rolling his eyes without actually looking at him. "We're almost there."

"Suzie must be pretty special, huh?" Robin asked abruptly, the sudden change of topic taking Kimmy by surprise, the brunette opening her eyes and lifting her head in confusion. "I mean, if you built this thing and lugged it all the way to the middle of nowhere just to talk to her?"

Kimmy raised her brows in agreement, happy that Dustin had got himself a girlfriend that he actually liked. She'd obviously never even seen a picture of Suzie, never mind seen her interact with Dustin, but it was clear in how highly he spoke of her that they must be pretty good together.

Sure, Aaron didn't even think she was real, but Kimmy didn't think so. For one, she didn't think Dustin would even come up with an unnecessary lie like that and stick to it for so long anyway, and two, just with the way he spoke about her or how he was always so excited to talk about her just made Kimmy find it extremely hard to find it in herself to believe he was lying.

"I mean, nobody's scientifically perfect," Dustin replied, a wide smile on his face as he gushed about how much he liked his girlfriend. "But Suzie's about as close to being perfect as any human could possibly be."

Kimmy smiled at the boy, but he wasn't watching her, the brunette noticed that he was still smiling to himself even when all eyes were adverted away from him.

"She sounds made up to me." Erica declared, the smile dropping from Dustin's face as he looked to her with an offended stare. Erica then looked away from Dustin and leaned forward to look to Steve.  "She sound made up to you?"

The question was met by silence, Steve panicking as he wasn't sure what to say.

"Why are you hesitating, Steve?" Dustin demanded, completely offended by Steve's actions.

"I'm- I'm- I'm not! I'm not!" Steve spluttered, clearly panicked as he had no idea what to say. "I think she sounds real. You know, totally, absolutely real-"

"Left. Turn left!" Dustin interrupted the boy, yelling the next direction in his ear.

"There's not a road here?" Steve replied in a perplexed tone.

"Turn left now!" Dustin yelled frustratedly, Steve sighing and letting out a string of curses as he suddenly turned the steering wheel, causing the three in the back to fall all into each other.

Steve speeding right through a wooden fence as he went to try drive the car all the way up the steep hill the group had climbed days before.

Kimmy, Erica and Dustin were being thrown left and right at how poorly Steve was driving the car.

...

I'm so SO sick omg I've never felt this bad before. I'm so sorry for not updating in about a week but I'm dying with the flu and I haven't been able to write with how sick I have been.

Anyway I'm sorry if this chapter isn't great it hasn't been read over or anything so please let me know if there are any mistakes lol.

Hope everyone is having/had a great day!!!!

- AJ :)