Chapter Two: The Mall Rats

CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT , SO CLOSE, BUT SO FAR

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Sofía and Max could see the hesitance across Eleven's face when they all stood outside the large Mall. The brunette lightly touches Eleve's arm, catching her attention. "Are you okay?"

"Too many people," Eleven says. "Against the rules."

Max and Sofía look at each other. Sofía didn't know the details about the rules Hopper gave Gus and Eleven to live by, but they were trying to find something to get not only Eleven's mind off of Mike, but also have fun with her.

Sofía opens her mouth, "Well, Gus works at the theater here," she states. "So, maybe you'll be okay here, too."

"And don't forget," Max adds, "you have superpowers. What's the worst that could happen?"

Eleven looks between the two girls. She let their words settle in her mind. If Gus is here all the time, there's no way there would be an issue with her being here just once. A small smile finds her lips--convinced by the girl's words. Eleven then nods her head, "Okay."

Sofía and Max smile. They grab both her hands and run into the mall. Once they got into the large overcrowded building, Eleven's eyes widened. She took her time to look around the mall, admiring the bright colors and large fountains that were spread throughout the area.

"So, what should we do first?" Max asks.

Eleven looks at Max with wide eyes, not even knowing where to start. She then looks at Sofía, begging for help. Sofía slightly opens her mouth, "You've never been shopping before?" She asks.

Eleven's face flushes and she shakes her head. Gus tries her best to get clothes for Eleven, but she didn't know where to start with helping Eleven figure out her style. Especially since Gus's wardrobe consists of black leather jackets, oversized sweaters, ripped jeans, and graphic tees. She was positive that wasn't Eleven's style.

"Well, then I guess we're just gonna have to try everything." Max suggests.

Sofía smiles, "Trust us," she grabs ahold of Eleven's hand. Eleven looks at her friend. "You're gonna have fun. Come on!" She tugs Eleven and Max to one of the clothing stores near by.

They get the store and Eleven softly gasps. She looks through the clothing racks and the mannequins wearing colorful vibrant outfits. Sofia and Max follow Eleven around, watching her scour the store clothes. Eleven suddenly stops at a rack with a light blue shirt and colorful stripes spread across it.

"Do you like that?" Sofia asks.

Eleven looks at the girls, "How do I know...what I like?"

Max and Sofia look at each other before looking back at Eleven. "You just try things on." The redhead answers. "Until you find something that feels like you."

"Like me?" Eleven spoke with uncertainty. She does like the pair of green converse she had. They matched Gus's own green converse. But Eleven had grown out of those recently and she had been so busy with Mike, she forgot to talk to Gus about getting more.

There were a lot of things Eleven was unsure of, and she could've asked Gus but things were different now. Eleven was with Mike and Gus was working and hanging out with Steve. The only time they hung out was during Magnum P.I. Friday's and even those days started getting rescheduled. It made Eleven sad thinking about the major changes she never realized were going on.

Max and Sofia could tell from the way her face fell that Eleven was thinking about something troubling. So, Sofia nudges the redhead—encouraging her to say something. Eleven and Sofia were already good friends, so Sofia was trying her best to get Eleven and Max on the same page.

Max lightly nudges Eleven's arm, catching her attention. "Find something that's you. Not Hopper. Not Mike. You."

Eleven took that advice to heart. The three girls ran around the whole mall, trying clothes on, doing photo shoots, trying on heels, and causing chaos in the food court. Sofia never knew that this was the kind of fun you could have with girls you were friends with. With the girls at her orphanage, Sofia was friends with them but most of them would either get adopted or end up growing out of the system and leave. No one stayed with her for long, except for Ms. Wallace. And she enjoyed her own peace and quiet from time to time.

...

Steve remembers how desperate he was for just one job in order to get his dad off his back about his future. Even though, his parents detested the job, it meant he would have money. Even Steve was unsure about it at first, but it had been growing on him. It was an easy job to do. Give kids ice cream and give them their change back if they needed it.

But knowing that Robin and Dustin were in the back trying to crack a a secret Russian code and he was stuck at the front, serving customers with Fallon? It made this shift drag on a lot more than it should have.

So, he tried to take his mind off it. He thought of August and how weird she was acting today. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it rubbed him the wrong way. Even her saying "I love you". It felt empty. Was she just saying it to get rid of him?

Steve looks at Fallon as she serves a kid ice cream. Gus and Fallon were best friends. If anybody what was going on. It would be her.

"Fallon!"

The curly haired girl glances at the boy with her brows pulled together. "Yes, cretin?"

Steve forces out a laugh through his clenched teeth. "Yeah, yeah. I am. I am—such a cretin." He leans against the counter but Fallon smacks his hand with her towel. "Don't lean."

"Okay, okay fine!" Steve rubs his hand and groans. "I have a question about August."

Fallon's ears perk and she turns back to Steve, giving him her undivided attention. "What's wrong?"

Steve hesitates for a second. That was the problem he had. He had no idea what was wrong with Gus. He just knew there was something wrong.

"Had she seemed...different to you?" Steve asks, his tone slightly quieter. Fallon pulls her brows together. "Are you talking about earlier?"

Steve nods his head, "Yeah. She...told me that she loves me."

Fallon stares at Steve with all the confusion in the world. "Isn't that a good thing?" She scoops ice cream and plops it onto the ice cream.

"It should be." Steve agrees. "But when she said it, it felt...empty." His frustration begins to grow as he tries to find the right words. "Something with her felt off. Like that wasn't Gus, y'know?"

Fallon glances away from Steve and he lets out a breath. "I know, it doesn't make sense—"

"No." Fallon cuts him off. "It does make sense."

Steve's heart drops. "Really?"

When Fallon talked to Gus earlier, she had almost told Robin about her past crush on her. Gus would never do that. No matter what. Fallon tried to brush it off, but now that Steve was mentioning something felt off with her she couldn't ignore it either. "Yeah..." Fallon looks at Steve. "I think you're right."

Steve then sighs, "Shit."

"What?"

"I was hoping I was wrong." Steve rubs the back of his neck. "I was hoping you would talk me out of this insane theory!"

"You're mad at me now?!" Fallon snaps back at him.

There was a panic across Steve's face. "No. I'm just worried."

Fallon's angered expression softens and her shoulders slump. "Yeah, me too." She tilts her head. Fallon wanted to hate Steve. For a long time she had. But as the years went on, she realized how similar she is to him. And their love for Gus had brought them closer in a way. It made her sympathize with Steve.

"Look, maybe we're reading too much into it." Fallon attempts at calming both of their nerves. Steve looks at the girl and she raises her brows. "Maybeee we care so much about her than our worries start to overpower our calmer thoughts."

Out of the corner of her eye, Fallon sees three figures running over to them. Fallon looks at the girls and smiles. "Hey, guys! What's up?"

Sofia waves at Fallon while giggling. "Hey, how's the shift going?"

"Slow." Fallon nods her head. "Very. Very, slow."

"We just came for ice cream." Max says. "Won't keep you long."

Fallon looks at Eleven, "You ever been here before?"

Eleven shakes her head, "First time."

Fallon chuckles, "Very cool."

"What can I do for you guys?"

"One Rocky Road, One Strawberry, and a vanilla with sprinkles—extra whipped cream." Max points at Eleven and Sofia while repeating the order.

Fallon nods, "Awesome." She looks at Steve. "You should just talk to her."

Sofia pulls her brows together. "Are you talking about August? Is she okay?"

The three kids look at Fallon and Steve with worry. Fallon and Steve look at each other. "No. She's good. I..." she winces. "...think?"

"Has she been acting weird with you guys?" Steve asks.

The three girls look at each other. Sofia shrugs, "I saw her my first day back. That was it."

"I haven't seen her in a week." Max answers. Eleven hesitated with her answer. She could feel guilt twisting at her stomach from the way she talked to Gus the last time. She brushed her off to hang out with a boy, who was probably my avoiding her right now. All Gus wanted to do was hang out with her little sister.

"Haven't." Eleven shakes her head. "Not for two days."

Steve's shoulders drop. "So, we're all blind. It seems like she's gone MIA."

"Maybe she's going to break up with you." Max suggests. "You scared?"

Steve deadpans, "No. I'm not scared." He pulls his brows together and fear creeps through his chest. Max sees him swallow and she smirks. "You're totally scared."

"You're ice cream." Steve looks at Fallon. "Get them out of here, please."

Fallon snorts, "You're totally shutting yourself."

Steve rolls his eyes, "Oh, god..."

The window to the break room opens, revealing Robin. She pokes her head out the window. "We've got our first sentence."

Fallon and Steve look at Robin. "Oh, seriously?" They walk over to Robin. Max holds her hands up, "Yeah, we'll wait."

Sofia nudges Max, "Give them a sec." Her eyes shift to Eleven. "El, you okay?"

Eleven swallows the guilty lump in her throat and nods her head. "Yes."

Sofia pushes her lower lip out, unconvinced.

Fallon pouts at the sentence Robin and Dustin decoded. It seemed like Steve and Fallon had the same thought.

"Well, that's thrilling." Steve's shoulders slack.

"I know. But, progress." Robin raises her brows with a smirk. Seeing the excitement in her eyes, made Fallon's heart quicken. Robin was in the zone and Fallon loved seeing it. She closes the window once again and Fallon's small smile lessens. She turns away from the window and looks at the three girls. "Sorry about that. Here you go." She hands each of them their correct orders.

Steve looks at the three girls and his eyes focus on Eleven once again. It didn't even click in his head, but now that he thought about it...

"Wait, are you even allowed to be here?" Steve pulls his brows together.

Fallon raises her brows. She hadn't even realized to ask that question. It felt so natural seeing the three girls at the mall having fun.

The girls all look at each other and giggling before running off. Fallon softly laughs at them having fun but Steve just stares. "That...okay."

"Can we trade?"

Max's eyes light up at Sofia's request. "Hell yeah!"

The three girls walk out of the mall and switch their ice cream cones. Max's eyes shift to the bike rack from familiar voices. Her smile falls from the sight of Lucas, Mike, and Will. "Oh, you've gotta be shitting me."

Sofia and Eleven pull their brows together. They follow Max's gaze. Sofia's shoulders drop, "Shit..." she was kind of hoping Mike was telling the truth about his Nana. But she's also glad that this means Mike's Nana is okay.

The three girls walk over to the bike rack where the boys were.

"Isn't this a nice surprise?" Max calls out.

The three boys look at the girls. Mike s mouth drops open and he drops his bike. He points at Eleven, "What. Are you doing here?"

"Shopping." Eleven answers.

"This is her new style." Max says. "What do you think?"

"What's wrong with you?" Mike snaps his gaze together the redhead. "You know she's not allowed to be here."

Sofia glances at Will, who was in the same position as her. Quiet and behind their two friends.

"What is she, your little pet?" Max retorts.

"Yeah." Eleven speaks. "Am I your pet?"

"What? No!" Mike exclaims.

"Then why do you treat me like garbage?" Eleven reiterates Max's words. Sofia softly groans.

"What?"

"You said Nana was sick." Eleven deadpans.

"She is." Mike says. "She is. She is sick." He looks at Lucas, obviously trying to get him to back him up. It made Sofia wince at how bad he was at lying.

"She's super sick." Lucas adds. "That's why we're here actually."

"Yeah, we're shopping." Mike says. "Not for us, but for her, for Nana."

"For Nana." Lucas adds.

"Also," Mike's gaze softens. "we're here to get a gift for you. Just, we couldn't find anything that suited you and I only have, like, $3.50, so it's hard."

"Super hard." Lucas says. "It's—it's expensive."

Eleven's gaze saddens, "You lie. Why do you lie?"

Sofia turns to the street at the sound of their bus. "Uh, guys?" She speaks up. "I'm sorry, but the bus is here. We got to go."

Eleven's jaw clenches. She takes a step toward Mike, causing him to pull his face back.

Everyone watches as Eleven stands in Mike's personal space, waiting for her next words.

"I dump your ass."

Sofia's eyes widen, "Oh..."

Eleven turns on her heel and walks toward the bus. Max follows after Eleven and Sofia continues to stare at the boys. "I-I'm sorry." She holds her hands up, her ice cream cone still in her hand. "I am so sorry!" She runs after Max and Eleven, catching up with them.

☆

"The week is long, the silver cat feeds, when blue meets yellow in the west."

Fallon shivers at the words, "That's fucking creepy."

Steve scoffs, "More like a fucking waste of time." He walks off. Fallon rolls her eyes at his statement.

Once they finished closing, the four walk out of the ice cream parlor. Steve closes the gate and locks it. "I mean, it just...it just can't be right."

"It's right." Fallon says.

"Honestly, I think it's great news." Dustin adds.

"How is this great news?" Steve scoffs. "I mean, so much for being American heroes."

"That's why you were in on this?" Fallon looks at him.

"Yeah, I mean—why were you doing this?" Steve looks at Fallon.

Her eyes shift to Robin and her heart flutters. "Just...cause."

"Well, it's total nonsense."

"It's not nonsense." Dustin says. "It's too specific. It's obviously a code."

"What do you mean, a code?" Steve asks.

"Like a super secret slide code." Dustin answers.

"That's a total stretch."

"I don't know, is it?" Robin questions.

Steve looks at Robin and Dustin. "You're buying into this?"

"Listen, just for kicks, let's entertain the possibility that it is a secret Russian transmission." Robin says. "What'd you think they were gonna say, "Fire the warhead at noon?"."

"Exactly." Dustin says.

"And my translation is correct." Robin adds. "I know that for sure, so... "the silver cat feeds". Why would anyone talk like that unless they're trying to mask the true meaning of their message?"

"Exactly."

Fallon could feel her entire body tense as Dustin and Robin continue to talk.

"And why would anyone mask the true meaning of their message unless the message was somehow sensitive?"

"Exactly!" Dustin looks at Steve, who was growing annoyed.

"So, I guess that confirms your suspicion." Robin looks at Fallon.

Dustin nods, "Evil Russians."

Robin smiles, "I can't believe I'm about to agree with this strange child, but, yeah, totally evil Russians."

"So, how do we crack it?" Dustin asks.

"Well, I guess we translate the rest and hopefully a pattern emerges." Robin suggests.

"A pattern." Dustin speaks. "Right, like maybe "silver cat" is a meeting place?"

"Or a person."

"Or a weapon."

"It's probably gonna take a super genius to crack it, but—"

"Okay, hold on."

Robin and Dustin stop walking and turn to the girl who finally spoke. One of Fallon's hands was up. "Are we seriously considering continuing this crazy shit?" She looks at the two. "I mean, Russians?"

"You've dealt with worse." Dustin says.

Fallon's stomach turns. Thinking about the monsters they've faced in the past made normal dangers feel not so dangerous. But Fallon couldn't stop thinking about every danger that was in their path now. Normal or inter-dimensional.

"Okay, but—there's still a high change of us dying because we dig too deep." Fallon states. "Why risk it?—Steve, can you back me up? You've been..." she looks to her side, to see the brunette gone. "Where the fuck did he go?"

"You didn't notice him gone?" Dustin asks.

Fallon shrugs, "He's hard to remember."

Robin points behind Fallon and she turns to see Steve standing in front of the carousel horse, almost in a daze.

"Hey, Steve!" Robin calls out. "What are you doing?"

Steve rummages through his pockets in a hurry. "Uh, it's a quarter. I need—do you have a quarter?"

The three walk over to him.

"You sure you're tall enough for that ride?" Robin quips.

"Quarter!" Steve emphasizes.

Robin tosses Steve a quarter, once he catches it he quickly inserts the coin into the carousel. The horse begins to move and the jingle blares loudly though the mall.

"You need help getting up, little Stevie?" Robin teases.

Dustin and Fallon laugh but Steve shushes them. "Would you three just shut up and listen?"

They all quiet down and listen to the song. Dustin's expression falls, "Holy shit." He looks at Fallon and Robin. "The music." he pulls his backpack off and grabs his Walkman. He presses play, the same music blared from the Walkman.

Fallon's jaw goes slack, "What the fuck?"

"I don't understand." Robin shakes her head.

"It's the exact same song on the recording." Dustin states.

"Maybe they have horses like this in Russia." Robin suggests.

Fallon slightly shakes her head, "The Indiana Flyer? I don't think so..."

"This code, it...didn't come from Russia." Steve looks at the three. "It came from here."

The hairs on the Fallon's arms stand up and she shivers. "Okay, so...can I still ask if we're really doing this?" She looks at Robin and Dustin wide eyes.

"Are we still cracking this fucked up code?"

☆

Flayed Gus could feel themselves growing stronger from another person being added to their army. They were growing stronger while Gus was falling apart on the inside. The fight she had at the beginning started to slip away. It doesn't mean it still wasn't there.

She was still in there. And she wasn't going to give up.

A muffled knock could be heard at the front door, which caused Flayed Gus to tilt their head. They stand up and walk through the cabin without a single word. They open the door, revealing the brunette.

"Steve."

Steve gives her a small smile. "Hi—hey." He holds hand up. "I know you didn't want me coming over, but...I was worried about you."

Flayed Gus pulls her brows together. "That's sweet."

Steve's stomach turns. There's that weirdness again. Gus wouldn't say that.

The flayed steps aside, "Come in?"

Steve keeps his eyes on Gus for a moment. "Yeah, yeah. Thanks." He steps into the cabin and Gus closes the door behind him. "Uh, no one's home, if that's what you're worried about."

Steve's stomach tightens. He didn't think she noticed that he knew something was off. It made him feel guilty about the way he's been doubting her. "I'm not worried about that." He says. "I was actually hoping we could just talk tonight."

It was weird that he came through door and not the window this time. Steve had to admit. He normally came through Gus's window and they normally were either always talking or having sex. No in between. It's been that way since they first had sex together. For some reason, the connect they had became deeper. Which is why Steve knew something was wrong with the girl standing in front of him.

"Of course, talk about what?" The flayed inquires.

"There's something going on with you." Steve states. "And I know you said that it was because you and El got into a fight and I know you also said that you were afraid of me loving you, but...I can't help but this that there's...something else going on."

The flayed inhales, "Well...I don't know what to tell you, Steve." They look at the brunette with a faint smile. It was emotionless. Steve felt like he was getting nowhere.

"I am okay." The flayed grabs Steve's hands. Steve shivers from Gus's hands being freezing cold. "Yeah, your hands—you're never this cold." He lightly squeezes them. "And earlier, you told me that you loved me—"

"Isn't that what you wanted?" The Flayed lists out a dry chuckle.

Steve closes his eyes and for a moment the Flayed drops their smile. They were growing impatient with all of Steve's questions. Maybe they could just take care of him. Make it easier to deal with their—

DONT YOU FUCKING DARE. Gus's voice rumbles through the flayed's eardrums. It caused them discomfort. Steve looks back at the flayed and they go back to smiling. "I'm sorry, if I'm being annoying—"

"Look. My sister's going to be home soon." The Flayed says. Steve slams his jaw shut.

"And so is Hopper." They give Steve's hands a soft squeeze. "I promise, I will explain everything to you tomorrow. I'm just a little tired, right now."

Steve inhales a breath. He knew he had to take the out for this moment. If he didn't, he might just push Gus away. And that's the last thing he wanted.

"Okay." He nods. "I'm sorry."

Gus shakes her head, she places a hand against Steve's cheek. "Don't apologize. I love that you're worried about me." The Flayed smiles. "I love you, Steve Harrington."

Steve keeps his brows eyes on the green hazel eyes that would normally make him feel warm and comforted. But not recently.

"I love you too, Gus." Steve lightly touches her wrist before stepping out of her touch. He turns and walks out of the cabin. As soon as the door closed, The Flayed's smirk drops. They walk back to Gus's room and closed the door. They roll their neck, cracking it. "Jeez, your boyfriend is annoying." They groan. "He worries too much."

"But I guess that's a given with a girlfriend who is basically a superhero—"

I will fucking kill you, if you ever touch him again.

"That would be fun to watch." The Flayed softly chuckles. "Oh. Did you hear that? I laughed. I'm getting better at being you with every second. By the time I get this 'Being August Hopper'
thing down, no one will be able to tell the difference between me and you."

Those words caused the real Gus's hope to deflate. If Steve couldn't tell that this wasn't Gus, how could anyone else?

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