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𝗔𝗨𝗚𝗨𝗦𝗧

chapter twelve:
I know you like me

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SERENITY AND STEVE were tasked with going to the pile of things that had been removed from the shed and finding anything that would produce heat. They both had flashlights in their hands, courtesy of Dustin, as they walked out into the backyard.

"Are you going with them?" Steve asked as they approached the pile. "To get this . . . thing, out of Will?"

Serenity shook her head. "No. I made a promise to all the moms that I would look after their kids, and that's exactly what I'm doing. And you're going to help me, because we're now officially a babysitting duo."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Oh, great. But isn't Will one of your kids?"

"He is. But . . . seeing him being surrounded by heaters so that this thing can be burned out of him . . ." Serenity's voice got quiet. "I don't think I'd be able to handle it, as selfish as that sounds."

"It's not selfish," Steve insisted softly.

"Besides, Joyce will be there with Will," Serenity continued. "Jonathan, too. They're going to be the ones he needs the most when he wakes up. And . . ." Serenity took a quick glance up at Steve. "I think Nancy is going with them. To be there for Jonathan."

Steve, to her surprise, didn't look sad at that revelation and just nodded. "Okay."

"You're not upset?"

"Why would I be?"

Serenity blinked and shined her flashlight around in the pile. "Oh. I just thought, after you broke up with Nancy . . ."

"I've come to terms with the fact that it's over," Steve admitted.

Serenity then lifted up a grate so that Steve could get a heater from underneath. "Have you? I'm glad. It hurt me to see you all sad and moping."

Steve picked up the heater. "I was not moping."

"Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that."

Steve looked over at her. Even though they were in the worst situation probably ever, Steve couldn't help but admire her. She seemed to glow under the moonlight, and although she looked fully exhausted from not getting any rest at all, she just radiated sunshine, like she normally did.

"We need to talk, Serenity," Steve decided — he couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Is it the same thing that you wanted to talk to me about on the bus?" Serenity questioned as she looked for more heaters.

"Yeah. Um . . . Dustin told me something earlier, when we were walking on the train tracks. You know, when you had your headphones in."

"Oh. What'd he tell you?"

Steve swallowed nervously. "That you like me."

Serenity's eyes widened. Her entire body froze, and she dropped the flashlight in her hands. Serenity looked at him, her face and neck heating up extremely. Her heart pounded against her chest. No, no, no, this could not be happening. Steve was never meant to find out, their friendship was ruined, everything was fucked—

"'Renity?" Steve inquired quietly, noticing her extreme panic. "Serenity, it's fine."

"Dustin doesn't know what he's talking about," Serenity said, her voice shaking. She bent down and picked up the flashlight she had dropped. "He doesn't know anything about liking people."

"Serenity—"

Her mind spun. "I mean, you heard what he did to impress Max. You even gave him that stupid advice. He has no idea what he's saying."

Steve sighed. "Serenity—"

"He's just a kid, you know? Kids lie all the time."

"Serenity," Steve stated, making her shut up. "Is it not true?"

She didn't say anything. That gave Steve enough of an answer. Serenity and Steve held eye contact for a long time. Her stomach churned uncomfortably. Sure, she always dreamed about telling Steve about her crush, maybe some random day in the future, but on her terms. She would want to do it her way. But this wasn't like that. Everything was out of her control now, and Steve knew, and things would never be the same, not even if they tried.

"I — I have to go," Serenity rushed out.

"We have to talk about it," Steve called as Serenity went to walk back into the house with a heater. "Serenity, we can't just leave it."

"We have to for now." Serenity looked away from him. "After Will is free of the Mind Flayer and Eleven closes the Gate, we can talk. But right now, the state of our breaking friendship can wait."

"Who said anything about our friendship breaking? Serenity, I feel the same."

Serenity's head snapped over to him again. "Huh?"

Steve shook his head. "For a smart girl, you can really act dumb sometimes."

Serenity felt like she was slipping beneath water. There was too much going on right now, too many things rolling through her mind, too many emotions. She couldn't handle it. Serenity needed to focus on one thing at a time, and right now, Steve couldn't be that. As much as it sounded hypocritical because Steve was always on her mind and a little mean, the idea of a monster being burned out of Will and Eleven trying to close a gigantic interdimensional gate was a little more pressing.

She had waited for Steve for years. He could wait for her if he meant it, too.

"Steve I — I can't talk about this right now," Serenity told him. "Just . . . please."

Steve stared at her for a moment before nodding. "Okay."

She offered him a tight smile before holding onto her heater and walking back into the house. Serenity gave the heater to Jonathan, who put it in his car. Everyone else was gathered on the porch, waiting in tense silence as Eleven was about to leave with Hopper to go back to the lab. Serenity walked up to Dustin and discreetly smacked him upside the head.

"Ow!" Dustin exclaimed, holding onto the back of his head. "What was that for?"

Serenity glared at him. "I'm going to murder you."

That was the end of their conversation when Steve joined them on the front porch. Serenity felt Lucas slump against her in exhaustion, and she put an arm around him, bringing her in close. Even in the state of her mind going out of control, at least she still had her kids.

"Just be careful, all right?" Mike said to Eleven, a tear dripping down his cheek as he stared at her like she was the only thing that mattered to him — which, in that moment in time, she definitely was. "I can't lose you again."

Eleven shook her head. "You won't lose me."

"Do you promise?"

"Promise."

Eleven leaned in closer to him. However, before she could give Mike a proper goodbye by kissing him, they were interrupted.

"El," Hopper voiced, standing by his cruiser and smoking a cigarette. "Come on, let's go. It's time."

Eleven gave Mike one final look before she walked over to Hopper's cruiser. Jonathan, Nancy, Joyce, and Will pulled out of the driveway first, and Hopper followed after them. Serenity felt her heart sink all the way to her stomach as the cars drove off. The air was heavy — none of them knew the outcome of what was going to happen tonight. All they could have was hope now.

They waited until the headlights could no longer be seen and the darkness returned. Serenity dropped her arm from around Lucas.

"Let's get inside," Serenity instructed gently. "Come on, everyone in."

Lucas, Max, Dustin, and Steve all trickled into the house. Steve lingered his gaze on Serenity for a moment, and she did nothing but stare at him back, not really having any words to say. Serenity then stepped forwards and placed a hand on Mike's shoulders, who was frozen in place, yearning for the girl who had just left to potentially save the world.

"She's going to be okay," Serenity stated. "From the stories you've told me, El can kick some serious ass."

Mike nodded in agreement. "She can."

Serenity let out a small laugh. "Then you know she can hold her own against those Demo-Dogs. As much as I hate to say it, we can't help her. We don't have superpowers. All we can do right now is wait, and be there to support her when she comes back."

Mike looked up at her. "I'm glad you got to meet her, Renny."

"Me too. She's cool. A girl of few words, though." Serenity slung an arm around his shoulders. "Come on. We should go inside."

The two of them walked back inside. Mike kept walking out of Serenity's embrace to sit at the table while Serenity stopped in her tracks. Dustin was removing everything from the Byers' freezer — both the food and the metal shelves that it had. Meanwhile, Steve was standing behind him, holding the dead Demo-Dog in his arms that was covered in a blanket.

Serenity stared at them, just completely tired. "What the fuck?"

Steve looked over at her. "It was Dustin's idea."

"I leave you alone for one minute. One minute."

"All right," Dustin began, looking back at Steve. "It should fit now."

"Is this really necessary?" Steve complained.

"Yes, it is, okay? This is a ground-breaking scientific discovery. We can't just bury it like some common mammal, okay? It's not a dog."

"All right, all right, all right." Steve approached the freezer. "But you're explaining this to Mrs. Byers, all right?"

Serenity crossed her arms and shook her head. "Steve's right. When Joyce comes home and demands why all of her food is on the floor, do not come crying to me."

"It's for a good reason, Renny!" Dustin protested.

"Yeah, yeah."

Steve then started to push the dead Demo-Dog in the freezer, but it didn't really fit. "Christ. Help me out."

"What am I supposed to do?" Dustin asked.

"Get the door, man. Get the door."

Serenity just watched them incredulously. "This doesn't seem necessary."

Dustin held onto the door. "All right, I got the door."

Steve pushed the Demo-Dog in, its slime dripping everywhere. "Ew, Jesus—"

Finally, after contorting its body, Steve slammed the door shut. Serenity watched as Steve put a hand on top of Dustin's head and rubbed it. She got a small smile on her face and walked past the two into the living room where the others were. Lucas had a broom and was sweeping the broken glass from the window into a dustpan that Max was holding. Mike was pacing, clearly stressed.

Lucas watched him pace. "Mike, would you just stop already?"

"You weren't in there, okay, Lucas?" Mike argued. "That lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs."

"Demo-Dogs!" Dustin corrected as he entered the room.

"The chief will take care of her," Lucas reassured Mike.

"Like she needs protection," Max commented.

"Listen, dude, a coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it, all right?" Steve explained, wiping the slime off of him with a dish towel.

Serenity looked up at him. "I didn't know we were comparing monster-hunting to basketball."

Mike just looked annoyed. "Okay, first of all, this isn't some stupid sports game. And second, we're not even in the game. We're on the bench."

"Right — so my point is . . ." Steve trailed off, thinking about it for a moment. He threw the dish towel over his shoulder. "Right, yeah, we're on the bench, so, uh, there's nothing we can do."

"That's not entirely true," Dustin announced. "I mean, these Demo-Dogs, they have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away."

"So if we get their attention . . ." Lucas continued.

"Maybe we can draw them away from the lab," Max added.

"And clear a path to the Gate," Mike finished.

"Yeah, and then we all die!" Steve protested.

"That's one point of view," Dustin insisted.

"No, that's not a point of view, man. That's a fact."

"I got it!" Mike suddenly exclaimed. He left the room, and Serenity trailed after him, the others following her. Mike pointed to one of the drawings on the fridge. "This is where the chief dug his hole. This is our way into the tunnel. So . . . here, right here." Mike brought them over to where all of the drawings connected. "This is like a hub. See how all the tunnels feed into here? Maybe if we set this on fire—"

Serenity's eyes widened. "Fire?"

"Oh, yeah, that's a no," Steve stated.

"The Mind Flayer would call away his army," Dustin voiced.

"They'd all come to stop us," Lucas responded.

"Guys, hold on—" Serenity began.

"Then we circle back to the exit," Mike agreed. "By the time they realize we're gone—"

"El would be at the Gate," Max stated.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Steve shouted, clapping his hands together to get their attention. He then placed his hands on his hips. "This is not happening."

"But—" Mike started to say.

"No, no, no, no. No buts." He pointed at Serenity. "The two of us promised to keep you shitheads safe, and that's exactly what we plan on doing. We're staying here, on the bench, and we're waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand that?"

"This isn't a stupid sports game."

"I said does everybody understand that?" Steve took the dish towel off of his shoulder and pointed it at all of them. "I need a yes."

Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Max all looked at Serenity hopefully. She straightened up slightly, her eyebrows knit in thought. Serenity then noticed the look Steve was giving her.

"Listen, you're all my kids," Serenity told them. "This sounds incredibly dangerous and totally batshit crazy, but Will, and El now, too, fall under that category."

"Serenity, you can't seriously be agreeing with them right now," Steve said to her.

She shrugged helplessly. "They seem to have a solid plan. The only problem I have is that there's a huge risk that one of us can get hurt. Maybe if we—"

Serenity was suddenly cut off by a car engine revving outside. Serenity looked towards the sound, confusion filling her insides. Who could it possibly be at this time of night? Max seemed to know, because her eyes instantly widened and she ran over to the window.

Following after her, Serenity looked out the window. None other than Billy Hargrove's Camaro was pulling up to the house, his headlights blinding.

"It's my brother," Max explained. "He — he can't know I'm here. He'll kill me. He'll kill us."

Serenity let out a breath of exasperation. "Shit. Nothing's easy for us, is it?"

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we love the babysitting duo!!!