RUN, YOU CLEVER BOY.

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STARCROSSED (book one).
°• CHAPTER SIX •°

" YOU BETRAYED ME! YOU
RUINED MY FUCKING LIFE! "

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THE DARK HAS ALWAYS SURROUNDED ELIJAH WOLFHART. He's learned to live through it, to see even if there was no light. He soon learned the darkness didn't mean the end. This almost felt different. Elijah can't see through this darkness, though, because there's absolutely no light, not even coming from the sky. He's bumped into so many trees that he's surprised, yet grateful, he hadn't fallen. The thing in the darkness he's been trying to escape was still there. He just couldn't see it there nor could he see the entrance of the tree they had come in. He could barely see alone. But Elijah could hear Nancy's shrill shrieking for Jonathan and his faint reply as they desperately searched for him through the night.

"I'm right here! Nancy! Eli! Follow my voice!"

Every turn Elijah makes means almost nothing. He sprints forward in desperation to find his best friend. It's like he's miles away, but also just a few feet away. And the worst part was, he realizes there's no stars in the sky. There was no moon to guide Elijah home. His chest tightens at the realization with every step, every breath, but he still shouts, "Jonathan! Help us, please!"

"I'm right here!" Jonathan pleads with them. Elijah can hear his feet pound against the ground as he tries to follow what he can't see. "Please - what do I do?!"

The pair race to follow where Jonathan's voice was attempting to guide them closer to an unknown place. Terrified tears stream from Nancy's face as she cries out, "Jonathan! Jonathan!"

Elijah was a hair away from crying himself. But only a horrified scream tumbles out when they whip around to see the same creature hunched over between a slope of trees. It lets out a loud snarl in response. Jonathan wasn't the only one following their begging screams for help. Nancy gives Elijah a shove to his back when he doesn't find it in himself to move at first. He feels her thin fingers clutching around the denim of his jacket so tightly he feared she'd rip it, but he doesn't push her away. He only draws her closer until they're bolting together.

It's then that they come across a tree with its log wide enough to shield them. Elijah throws Nancy behind it first to ensure she'd fit at least alone before planting his back against the bark, carefully squaring his broad shoulders. Tears well in Elijah's eyes as he hears the monster snap twigs closer and closer. It's creeping on them, quietly searching them out because they're the prey it's hunting. Elijah doesn't dare breathe. He squeezes his eyes shut, holds his breath, and prays for a chance they'll make it out of this alive.

A voice calls to them not too far away, "Nancy! Eli! Follow my voice!"

Elijah can't see from his position against the tree, but he watches Nancy crane her neck. Her blue eyes widen before they flicker towards him. He knows immediately that Jonathan was calling to them through the door embedded in the tree they crawled through. It was only inches away, but so was the monster.

"Sh..." Elijah hushes her. He reaches out to grip her hand. Her gloved fingers are trembling under his touch. "Don't. Move. Yet."

Nancy slowly nods. Her wrist twists until she's clasping his hand too. There's no way they won't make it out without each other. Elijah cautiously turns his head in the other direction. The thing has its back turned to them, growling as they tried to sniff it out. This was the only chance they were going to get. He glances back at Nancy and nods.

She's the first to fly over to the opening. Elijah is on her heels, waiting until she's crouched to do so too. HIs knees dig into the soil and propel himself behind the girl shoving herself forward. The slime smears across him and is so thick that it nearly holds him back, attempting to drag him further into the other side. Elijah doesn't grimace this time. All he can do is think, get me out, get me out, get me OUT!

Nancy comes to a pit stop where the door was nearly sealed shut with the thick ooze. Her hand shot out of it as she screams, "Jonathan!"

"I got you!" Jonathan shouts. He grasps Nancy's arm and plants both of his sneakers on the bark of the tree. He yanks with all the strength he can muster.

Multiple strains and grunts come from both of them. Elijah tries to help, shoving Nancy forward with his hands on her hips. "Get us out! Jonathan, get us out!" He pleads.

With one last force, Nancy's shoulder finally fit through the hole. Jonathan and Elijah give one final tug and push, finally freeing her. Elijah shoves himself forward after. It causes the slime to smudge and stick to his face, his hair, stuck like a second skin. It's trying to close him in. "Jonathan! Help!" Elijah howls. His mouth opening causes the substance to fill his mouth and he violently gags as his arm breaks free.

Jonathan's hand catches Elijah's forearm. His fingers dig into his limb, tugging so hard that he feared it would rip free. Elijah's other hand searches for something else stable until he finds a thick root sticking out of the ground. His fingers slip from the ooze, but he refuses to let go, fingernails sinking into the plant. With the help, somehow, Elijah frees himself from the hell by breaking through the entrance like it was a closing door made of slime.

A spiderweb of goop still holds a part of Elijah inside. He desperately squirms, thrashing his legs, his bent knees sliding until he's no longer stuck. He cries out when he hits solid ground, saturated. It's there he realizes Nancy wasn't the only one crying. Jonathan throws his arms around both of them so they're drawn into a deep embrace as if nothing in the world could separate the three of them. Elijah finally breaks there.

Broken sobs echo from the two terrified teenagers as they clutch onto Jonathan. Elijah wraps his arms around the two, face buried against Jonathan's shoulder as it grounded him, made him feel safer. It didn't matter how much he sucked in his breath from the fresh oxygen around him or how he was in the arms of his two best friends. Elijah didn't navigate his way through the dark. He never was going to.

The truth was, he only entered it. And there was something inside that was furious, hungry.

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There's no telling how long Elijah, Nancy, and Jonathan sat in the Wheeler's parking lot in his car. Jonathan took the keys from the owner when declaring he wasn't well enough to drive them home. Elijah hated when others drove his car because he cherished the vehicle he worked so hard on. But this time, he didn't fight it. He simply dropped the keys in Jonathan's awaiting palm and sat in the backseat, his forehead pressed against the fogging glass. He was still covered from head to toe, dampened with the gunk from the tree.

"You guys can come in," Nancy offers, breaking the silence. Her voice was hardly a whisper, almost as quiet as the silence. Elijah almost missed it. "I mean, I know it'll be hard sneaking two boys in, but..."

"Don't." Elijah can barely croak. He's done so much screaming, went through so many traumatic events, that he can hardly speak any louder. He shakes his head when Jonathan looks at him through the mirror. "Just go. I just want to be alone."

He notices Jonathan's features twist. He knows how Elijah hates to be alone. He knows Elijah needs reassurance, embraces, and to not be on his own when he's in a moment like this - so terrorized all he can do is shake. Jonathan doesn't want to leave him alone because he can tell Elijah secretly doesn't want to but refuses to admit it. "Eli - "

The gentle use of his name causes Elijah to flinch. He was never used to it. He shakes his head and opens the car door. "Go. I want to be alone." He repeats himself with more of an assertive tone behind his words to make it clear he'll walk home if they don't leave.

Fortunately, it doesn't come to that. Jonathan and Nancy are reluctant but they eventually leave his car. He feels Nancy's hand gently press against his shoulder. "It'll be okay," she tells him quietly. Her hand makes a soft smack as it pulls away, a thin web still connecting them until it breaks.

Elijah waits until Jonathan returns his keys and makes sure they're inside the Wheeler's house before sitting in the driver's seat. He knows there's a bomb ticking inside of him from the way he stares too calmly at the dark road through the windshield with nothing but a blank expression. He doesn't know if he drives too slow or too fast. Elijah just wants to go home. He wants to make sure Nevaeh is safe, get in the shower, scrub his damp skin raw under boiling hot water from his showerhead, get into bed, and never come out again.

What Elijah doesn't want is for Steve Harrington to be waiting next to his front door.

He blinks slowly a few times as if he believes somehow the monster fucked with his head and he's only imagining this. Elijah still doesn't believe it even after he shuts the car off. Steve ruined his fucking life, leaves, Elijah runs away from a creature that wants to eat him, and the cycle continues with Harrington there, waiting for him.

The bomb Elijah was so worried about inside of him had the wire cut wrong. The anger that explodes takes the fear and turns it into smoke, rising to the sky, covering the stars that told the story of Steve Harrington and Elijah Wolfhart. And Steve wasn't prepared for the fury to hit him as he watches his past best friend storm out of the car and pretend he wasn't there. The silent treatment was perfect - Elijah doesn't even glance at him. He only bumps into his shoulder like he isn't even standing there like he was nothing but the wind.

"Eli?" Steve turns to follow as Elijah's quivering fingers twist around his silver keys to unlock the door. "Wait, please... It's important."

The key jammed into the knob's hole but Elijah's shaking too much to turn it correctly. "Fuck off, Harrington," is all he spat. His voice quivers with both rage and horror.

Steve watches Elijah struggle to unlock his door. His eyebrows furrowed, confused. He's known something was always off about Elijah's mental health and he's seen him at his absolute worse, but this seemed different. Something was wrong. He offers, "Eli, let me help," and attempts to take over.

Suddenly, Elijah rips away before Steve could even brush his skin, leaving the sticky key in the lock. He doesn't want him to know what exactly was wrong, what he had been drenched in. All that Elijah wanted to do was lash out and finally let Steve know exactly what he felt.

"There is nothing you can do for me! You were my best friend and you betrayed me! You ruined my fucking life! What more do you want from me?!" Elijah almost screams his throat raw. Steve takes a few cautious steps away, but Elijah only follows him. His sneakers drag across the concrete, the slime sticking him to it.

"What?! You coward, afraid of the faggot?!" He demanded. The derogatory name he called himself only made his blood further pump into magma. Elijah hates being called what he is, so he's the only one allowed to.

He recognizes the look on Steve's face. It wipes clean of every emotion Elijah always recognized because they used to know one another in and out. It's why he knows the new look - the one that wipes Steve's face clean, devoid of every feeling until it's showing nothing. Whatever was there was gone. He suddenly didn't need his old best friend anymore now that he was brave enough to throw his dirty little secret in his face nor is he concerned about Elijah anymore.

"I'm not afraid of anything," Steve retorts after a beat.

And Elijah almost believes him from his comfortable, safe spot in the back of the closet. Steve hasn't had the chance to see anything more frightening than a man without a face, living in something from a nightmare. Elijah scoffs. "Yeah," he agrees quietly. "Except yourself."

He can picture exactly how Steve's face would flush with shame and anger, but Elijah doesn't care. He's too busy jamming his key in the lock again and giving it such a forceful turn he's surprised the metal doesn't snap. It turns in the knob and finally allows him access. The lights in the house are off so he's enveloped into a darkness that he can't find a way out of. Elijah shakes with so much horror and fury all at once that it's a struggle to not slam the door, accidentally waking the other two inside. He's always worn his heart on his sleeve, but he can't let them see him like this.

Elijah shoves Steve out of his mind. He doesn't care who hurt who. His only concern is finding the stupid bathroom without smearing the shit he's covered in on the walls. The last thing he needed right now was them asking any questions. Elijah drags himself across the rug that leads to an even longer hallway until he can find the door to the bathroom. A gasp of relief pushes from his chest as he shoves the door and slams his palm on the wall until it hits the switch, leading to the flicker of light on the ceiling.

He doesn't hesitate to rush to the porcelain tub. Elijah can't think of anything else but washing clean. He quickly turns the silver knob until the water becomes almost boiling, leaving steam to fill the room. It swirls around Elijah and tints his warming skin red. He ignores the fact he's still wearing clothes and jumps in, allowing the hot water to soak him completely. Elijah bathes himself in it, scrubbing at his skin with a cloth until he thinks he's bleeding.

It leaves his skin thanking him despite the burn that comes with it. Elijah's nails almost pass his skin. He cries out quietly, the noise softly bouncing off the walls. He feels as if he could drown here and not feel a damn thing because that's what he longed for. He wants to be apart of the sky. He never wants to go to that place again. He doesn't want to be here anymore. Elijah bows his head, his damp raven hair sticking to his forehead, leaving droplets to track through. A loud sob breaks free from the lump in his throat and he bites on his lower lip in regret, prays that no one heard it.

And it's no use. Elijah hears quiet footsteps outside the door. His hands fly to cover his ears, his wet palms slapping over them. He curls himself to be as small as possible under the streams of water like it could somehow make him disappear when the door pushes open.

"Eli?" Nevaeh gasps. He hears her knees hit the floor a second after as she rustles to grab a towel. "Eli, hey, what is it?" She whispers, quickly flicking the water off again. Elijah almost cries out again as he shivers with the loss. He feels the warmth again when the fluffy towel is thrown over his shoulders, embracing him. Then Nevaeh's hands gently try to pry his own off his head. He refuses to look at her. "Please, please, tell me what's wrong. Let me help," Nevaeh pleads anyway.

"Nightmare," is all Elijah chokes out. He sobs again. "The - the nightmare - "

He hears Nevaeh quietly hush him until the stammering words become broken cries created by his mind but lodged in his throat. She presses her hand against Elijah's cheek so he'll finally open his eyes and look at her. It was always Elijah who took control, who would have given his entire life for his baby sister's had the opportunity arose, and now Nevaeh felt as if it was her turn.

It's a struggle for Elijah to stand. His shoes slide unsteadily against the floor of the bathtub, so Nevaeh grasps his forearms, refusing to let her fingers slip against his wet skin. She makes sure the towel is firmly draped over his shoulders, rubs it against his skin in hopes of warming him. His lips were already starting to tint blue and it had Nevaeh filled with more worry. "I'm going to grab you dry clothes," she tells Elijah. "You're going to change and we're going to make sure you're in bed, safe, okay?"

True to her words, Nevaeh leaves and returns a few minutes later. Elijah hadn't moved from his spot except to turn his head and stare into the mirror. He realized he looked insane. His hair was curling across his forehead from being heavily wet. His once brown, now bloodshot eyes were rimmed with red from how many times he's cried, sunken in. Elijah wanted to vomit at the sight. That didn't compare to the scratches littered across his face that stung, his throat dry from the screaming, and the unbearable emotions that turned into physical pain eventually as if he'd been punched.

A pile of fresh pajamas is set in front of Elijah on the sink. Nevaeh gently tugs the towel off and wraps it around her arm. "You need to get changed. You're going to get sick," she whispers as she tries to catch his eye. Elijah is still refusing to look at her.

"I will," Elijah mumbles in a promise. Nevaeh doesn't leave until she's sure she believes him. He waits for the door to shut firmly.

The clothes he bathed in stick to him like a second skin. He lets them drop to the floor with a heavy plop. At least he's not drenched in the shitty gunk anymore. Elijah almost feels clean as the pajamas fit snugly. Almost.

Nevaeh hadn't moved from her spot in the hallway where she was waiting for him. She uses a blanket to wrap around Elijah this time, a quilt that he recognizes as soon as it's tightly woven around his statue. Their mother made it herself. She had sewed pieces of cloth from their lives of babies when Nevaeh was an adult. It was one of the most prized possessions of the family, something you couldn't lose, wouldn't give up for the world, and when you grieve, you press your face into it and sob as if it's the only thing keeping you grounded on this world.

And that's exactly what Elijah does. He pretends he feels alive for now as he lays in bed with watery eyes and a heart that hurts more with every beat. The only things that held Elijah Wolfhart to this world, alive, were the soft sobs he had muffled into the blanket and his sister that had laid behind him, arms wrapped around him tightly, head pressed to his shoulder.

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The banging on the door had been louder than the pounding in Elijah's head but it isn't what wakes him up. He wasn't even sleeping. He's been staring at the wall blankly as the tears come and go. He has a deep hunch it's Jonathan and Nancy. Don't ask him how, but considering what they endured together the night before, he easily figures why they'd be there to collect him. They're a trio, they stuck together with that monster around. Jonathan wasn't his only best friend now.

He almost forgot Steve Harrington showed up last night. Elijah had been too busy drowning himself in his thoughts to remember him. He spent a moment from his bedroom to the front door to try and remember what he wanted, but nothing came to mind. Steve only mentioned he needed a friend. Elijah practically slammed the door in his face for that. He tried not to care, but the urge had washed over him anyway even when it's pushed aside to answer his other friends waiting for him.

"Hey, Eli. We have a theory about detecting blood," Nancy greets, straight to the point. Elijah liked that about her. She didn't beat around the bush. Plus, she seemed to be as much of a mess as he was. They could work through their shared trauma together.

Elijah paused to glance behind his shoulder. His father was probably at work and Nevaeh was nowhere close. He stares back to Jonathan and Nancy, nodding. "Let's hear it."

"So, that thing came for Barb the night of Steve's party, right?" Nancy points out. "She cut her hand and was bleeding. Then it devoured that dying deer. Both were at night, both were bleeding. It hunts like a predator. So, if we know how to draw it in..."

"... Then maybe we can kill it," Elijah finishes with his eyebrows furrowing. He didn't exactly knew how he felt about that. It was a frightening thought to have to return to their very own hell they just escaped from.

But Elijah knew one thing for sure: he wasn't a coward. He was brave as hell, and there was no depth of hell that could make him less courageous and turn away. And eyeing Nancy, he knew she felt the same. Her lionheart was almost contagious. Jonathan didn't have to even experience what they did. He already caught the same courage.

"We're gonna need supplies," Jonathan suggest. Elijah almost smiled. The idea of armoring up for protection gave him more guts.

But what takes Elijah's guts away is a sudden arm slinging over his shoulders. He jumps at the contact, but recognizes his sister almost immediately since she had to push herself on her tiptoes to do so, and her curly hair tickled his face. She kicks open the door wider so her brother's friends can see her too and flashes everyone a wide, naive smile that somehow seemed threatening at the same time. "Kill something? Supplies?" Nevaeh echoed what she overheard. "With my brother? Okay. Count me in."

"Yeah, no chance in hell," Elijah disagrees. "You're staying put." He knew Nevaeh had fit into the annoying younger sister trope for many years. She always wanted to tag along on his adventures and be just like her big brother, but this was too far. The eldest Wolfhart never wanted the youngest to ever go through what he had.

But then another thought occurred to him. The nightmares, the drugs. Elijah realizes Nevaeh already had. It all somehow pieced together and closes the circle of questions he's been asking for too long. The pills sold to Nevaeh knocked her out cold and she would be alive in a living nightmare that she thought was all in her head. And that's something Elijah would have never wished on her. He wished it could have been different, however...

If anyone knew anything, if anyone could help them, it was Nevaeh Wolfhart.

And luckily, Nevaeh's too stubborn to take no for an answer. "I already have your keys," she says and twirls the ring around her finger. "I'll wait for you in the car."

Jonathan waits until she's out of earshot. "Are you sure about this?" He asks Elijah. "She shouldn't go through this, too."

"I don't want this for her," Elijah mumbles because he hates it. He hates the idea of Nevaeh following them anywhere near that nightmare. "But she's already in it."

The scent of smoke in Elijah's car welcomes him home. He aches to lean past Nevaeh's knees and pop open the glove compartment where a box of his cigarettes were waiting to be used. But he doesn't and his fingers nervously tap against the wheel that he turns to follow Jonathan's car where he was driving Nancy. It doesn't take long for Elijah's annoying tick to get on Nevaeh's very last nerve.

She just about slams the button that opens the compartment. The door opens with a soft pop and Nevaeh dives in, fingers searching through the clutter for Elijah's cigarettes. "Smoke before you tap your fucking fingernails off," she almost demands and thrusts the open pack to him.

"Thanks," Elijah says. He balances his knee on the wheel and flicks the box open, plucking out one to balance between his two fingers. The other takes his crimson red lighter out of his flannel's pocket to snap it on and bring the flame to the end. Elijah's hand returns to steer while his other brings the filter in between his lips where he can inhale, filling his lungs with the comforting smoke. He wished he thought of this last night when things were at it's worst.

Nevaeh watches for a moment. Her deep brown eyes follow the smoke as it disappears into the air. "You know what's weird?" She questions quietly. Elijah hums. "I've always hated it when you smoked..." He listens as Nevaeh trails off before she lets out a slightly bitter laugh. "... And the weird, funny thing is - is, God, I've always wanted to be just like you, Eli. I've always wanted to be just like my big brother."

The words make Elijah's shattering heart start to warm, melding together. He started to smile. His rough patch with Nevaeh had yet to be repaired, but this felt like a start. She's never admitted something that deep and personal to him without having it ripped out of her. Elijah never noticed the shadow he had growing up when he was lost in the dark. He saw it now. Nevaeh never left his side, she just tilted her head back so she could look up to him.

"People always said siblings close in age have issues and shit - jealousy, spending less time with their parents. But you never had that. You never cared. You looked out for me even when I got on your last nerve." Nevaeh props her chin in the palm of her hand. "So I wanted to be like you. I played with your action figures, Transformers, whatever you'd let me touch. Every time you wanted to be alone with... With Steve, I invited myself, tagging along because you never let me feel left out. God, I even spoke like you, picked up your mannerism. I tried wearing your sneakers and tripped everywhere. But I didn't care, because it made me feel like I was you."

Nevaeh waits until Elijah had stopped at a red light so he can look at her. Her lips twist into a smile, her eyes glimmering with adoration. Elijah understood then that her intentions were as pure as his, to keep him safe too. They've truly faced the same thing. "I love you, big brother," she says. "And if there's something after us, then you're not facing it alone just to keep me safe."

"I love you." Elijah turns the wheel one last time before putting the car in park outside of some kind of hunting store. He turns the engine off and takes his seat belt off so he can meet his sister's eyes. "But it's my job to keep you safe. Just follow me, okay?" He requested softly.

The smile on Nevaeh's face turns sadder. "I always have," she replied and once again follows his steps.

The Wolfhart siblings meet Jonathan and Nancy at the front door that rings with a quiet ding from the silver bell above them. Elijah scans the store they've entered. Everything that meets his gaze causes his nose to wrinkle. There were various dead, stuffed animals placed on different shelves that had obviously been shot and used for show. It was disgusting. "Men," he mumbled under his breath. "Our world will go to shit when they fuck up our ecosystem and food chain."

"Be nice," Jonathan warns him under his breath when he notices the owner behind the register giving them the stink eye.

"I'm always nice."

Nancy and Nevaeh decide to split from the boys and grab a basket they can fill. They test the weight of their chosen weapons to decide which is the best for their use. Jonathan and Elijah seem to be much more interested in what explosive items they had to offer. A large, red can of gasoline was the very last of their supplies. Elijah shared a look with him. "We douse that fucker in gasoline and hope it doesn't just piss if off?" He suggests a bit too hopefully.

"Maybe we'll get lucky," Jonathan replies. He tries to smile. "At the very least, maybe we could keep it still long enough to, uh, die."

Elijah tries to mull over what little knowledge he had of these hunting weapons. Almost nothing came to mind because he wasn't a killer of any animals. "Maybe we could..."

"Hey, guys. Check this out," Nancy calls over her shoulder to draw them over and she doesn't even have to point out what she was eyeing. A couple of metal bear traps were clamped shut, just waiting to be bought. And maybe it won't work. Maybe it will. But it was enough for them to at least try to get rid of it.

The owner is less than interested in any monster they're facing. He's still eyeing the group of teenagers carefully, but Nancy is the one to ignore it. She simply places their chosen weapons across the counter while they wait patiently for him to ring it up. Elijah knew the questions were coming as each weapon became worse.

Jonathan's finger tap nervously on the wood. "And I'll have four boxes of the .38s," he requested anxiously.

The cashier tilted his head and gave Jonathan a look as if he lost his mind. He blinked a few times as he processed this and finally retrieved boxes of the rounds for Jonathan's gun. "What you kids doin' with all this?" He questioned.

The four of them exchange uncertain looks. No one knows what to say until Elijah flashes the man an innocent grin. "Going on a murder spree." He watches the other's face drop like he was going to change his mind any second and swipe the stuff away from them. Elijah's smirk dropped and he rolled his eyes dramatically. "You'll take that seriously because I'm not fucking white, huh?"

A sudden pain shoots through Elijah's foot and up his lower leg when Nevaeh slams her shoe on his foot. It works though, and he shuts up with a wince of pain. "He's joking," she quickly reassures the guy. "A really poor joke. We're actually, uh..."

When she trails off unsurely, Nancy steps in and finishes for them. "Monster hunting."

At least it works. The owner becomes bland and uninterested once more, clicking a few buttons on the cash register to pop it open and finally check them out. Elijah waits patiently for him to finish. He's fully aware just how much the man hates him by the way he acts just for... What? Letting the truth out?

Jonathan offers to carry the box of smaller supplies outside while Nancy carries the gasoline and Elijah holds onto the straps of the bear traps. The downtown weather greets him as the glass door swung open with another ring. It's the perfect weather for, what Nancy described as, monster hunting.

They silently opt to fill Jonathan's trunk instead of Elijah's. Jonathan pops open the door with a click and smiles at Nancy and Elijah. "Murdering spree? Monster hunting?"

Elijah shrugs. He's more careful placing the traps into the trunk than Jonathan does with the box. "Toe-may-toe, ta-ma-toe."

It surprises him that his joke causes Nancy to let out a giggle. "You know, last week... I was shopping for a new top I thought Steve might like. It took me and Barb all weekend. It seemed like life or death, you know?" She said with another laugh, fumbling to place the gas container in correctly. "And... And now - "

"You're shopping for bear traps with Jonathan Byers and the Wolfhart's?"

"Yeah." Nancy shakes her head with a wide smile on her face. She cocks her head towards the Wolfhart's. "No offense, obviously."

Maybe a couple of days ago, Elijah would have definitely taken offense to that. But it brought him more comfort anyone standing there could imagine to have acceptance he felt as if he hadn't deserved, more than he's ever received from a shitty best friend in the past. "Believe me, I didn't imagine shopping with Nancy Wheeler was on my to do list this week either," Elijah agrees.

"I didn't imagine picking up bear traps for monster hunting was either, so." Nevaeh shrugs and leans against Elijah's shoulder once their weapons are safely tucked inside Jonathan's car.

"Fair enough." Jonathan gave them a weak, anxious laugh. "Then what's the weirdest part? Us or the shopping for bear traps?"

There's a teasing beat of silence as Nancy pretends to glance from the siblings to Jonathan before making her final choice. "I'm starting to like them as much as the bear traps so... It's you. It's definitely you."

The four of them share a few laughs. That brought even more comfort to Elijah like an easy weight off his shoulders. It almost felt like he finally found a place in this world, in this dark that he struggled to see through. Elijah realized he didn't need to, not when he had the three best lights in the world anyway.

Suddenly, a car horn rips through the air and sends them into silence. Elijah turns to see a red car speeding past them. A boy tilts out of the passenger window, a wide smirk on his face. "Hey, Nance, Eli! Can't wait to see your movies!" He calls with a fit of cruel laughter.

The smile slips off of Elijah's face. He shares a confused look with Nancy who's eyebrows were furrowed together. Jonanthan and Nevaeh seemed equally puzzled. "What the hell was that?" He asks the pair taunted as if they had any idea.

"I don't know," Nancy whispers. Her wide blue eyes flickered to Elijah. "Eli?"

It doesn't catch Elijah off guard that it was the first time Nancy called him by his nickname like they were old friends. He's too busy trying to sort out what they meant. "I have no idea," he mutters with a shake of his head.

A quiet gasp from Nevaeh catches all their attention. Elijah barely has time to turn his head before she slaps her hand over his eyes, causing him to flinch. "Eli, don't look - "

"What are you talking about?!" Elijah exclaimed and rips her hand off his face. His gaze follows the girls as Nancy finally noticed what Nevaeh had gasped at where he catches the unbelievable scene as well.

Elijah bolts at the same time Nancy does. He breaks free from Jonathan and Nevaeh who call their names and try to keep up. His sneakers slap against the concrete as he tries to nudge the shopping crowd in downtown to make enough room. Tears started to fill Elijah's eyes long before he reaches the curb and hops off. He doesn't bother to make sure there aren't any cars speeding towards them. He sprints with trembling knees closer, closer, until he's across the street staring at a movie theater's sign with his watering eyes.

A hundred times and more Elijah could explain how betrayed he was by Steve Harrington. A thousand times more he could express how he broke his trust, his faith. How he ruined his life when he used him, outed him. Those compared pretty easily to the pain of deception Steve hit him with again because no one else would have done this to them. Elijah feels the darkness turn heavy despite the loss of stars and press into his chest as he reads the red painted words again and again.

ALL THE RIGHT MOVES

STARRING NANCY THE SLUT WHEELER

& ELIJAH THE FAG WOLFHART

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author's note:

literally as soon as i finished season 3 i got so inspired to keep writing starcrossed i just have SO many things planned. so many scenes i can't wait to do. so much heartbreak and love. i've also had this planned forever that steve really takes it too far. get ready for the fight in the next chapter

it's all coming together tho. elijah and nevaeh finally realize the nightmare, the upside down, stuff like that. their relationship makes me cry. they're still rocky but best believe they'd do anything for each other, SAME WITH JONATHAN AND ELIJAH. him hugging eli just makes me - i'm crying. should make this a jonathan byers fic at this point, all in favor?

jk but thank you for reading guys! i'm so excited for you guys to see everything i have planned. this'll be such an amazing journey

- koda

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WORD COUNT:
6k.
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