I'M JUST HAPPY
I'M WITH STEVE !

☀︎

WORK HAD BEEN PUT ON HOLD FOR STEVE HARRINGTON. Rather he had found himself hiding in the fake plants in the center of the mall with the Henderson's on either side of him. Between the three, they had shared one pair of binoculars and a very slow thought process. Whatever they were doing, they were certain it was going to further them in solving the code the Russians had given.

Keeping a lookout, Dustin and Alex had kept an eye out for any one they had seen as suspicious in the nearby area. Steve had used the binoculars to look further out into the mall. The only issue was, two were not sure what exactly they were looking for.

Eyes shifting across the mall, Dustin had given a small nudge to Steve, "See anything?"

Peering through the binoculars, Steve had tried to decide what it was he was looking out for. When nothing had came to mind, he pulled the binoculars down from his eyes. "I guess I don't totally know what I'm looking for."

"Evil Russians," Dustin whispered.

Giving a small nod, Steve had still been at a loss. "I don't know what an evil Russian looks like." He had pulled his eyes away from the binoculars to raise his brows at Alex before he went back to find anything that could stand out to him.

Seeing the look on Steve's face had Alex smiling to herself. Whether it be something as small as exchanged looks, it had never failed to have her turning away with a smile spreading across her face.

Dustin wasn't so amused. "Tall and blonde. Not smiling. Also, look for earpieces, camp, duffel bags, that sort of thing."

Silently repeating those few descriptive words to himself, Steve searched for those very things. However, no matter how much he tried to focus in on finding an evil Russian, he also found himself very distracted. As he had scanned the crowd of people, the sight of two former high school classmates had caught his attention. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me. Anna Jacobi's talking with that meat head Mark Lewinsky. Jesus Christ, whatever happened to standards? Lewinsky never even came off the bench!"

Growing curious, Alex had taken the binoculars from Steve's hands. With the strap still around his neck, she had accidentally pulled him along with the binoculars. With his face against hers, he had pointed up to the couple as she gave a good look herself. "Oh, come on, she could do so much better than him. What the hell is she thinking? He's a total moron."

Pursing his lips together, Dustin had tried to keep his aggravation under control with the two now in discussion over a couple that didn't concern them. Yet seeing them close to one another and being able to agree so easily with one another, his jealousy had skyrocketed. How Dustin had wanted to be in their place with Suzy, a girl that almost everyone had been convinced didn't even exist.

Unable to take it any longer, Dustin had taken the binoculars, now pulling Steve with it and away from Alex. Trying to pull the strap off from around his neck, Steve had tried to free himself as Dustin gave each of them an equally nasty look. "You two are the worst spies in history, you know that? I don't even understand why you two are so caught up in other people's lives. You're dating each other in case you forgot."

"Dude," Alex said with a small frown. "You know we don't actually care about their relationship. Trust me, I'm not afraid Steve's going to leave me for Anna Jacobi... or Mark Lewinsky."

"Yeah, man, you don't have to worry. We're totally in love," Steve added in while placing his arm around Alex's shoulder. However, his words only got an eye roll and a disgusted scoff from Dustin. Concern had washed over Steve as he pulled his arm off and turned his full focus on Dustin. "Hey, are we good here? You got something you want to say?"

Dustin had gone silent as he felt his stomach twist into knots. He had something to say, but to allow himself to say it just because he was jealous was not what he wanted. He knew what he thought was only because he hated everyone else being able to flaunt their relationship, but he got shunned for his. Now all he wanted was to have others feel the same. So he kept his eyes on his binoculars and kept watch for that evil Russian as he spoke. "Yeah, actually, I do. You two are quick to bash other people's relationships when you two aren't even each other's types. I guarantee you, people are judging you right back."

"We're not bashing them. We're bashing Mark Lewinsky. Anna is actually super sweet," Alex corrected. Only her words didn't hit Dustin as she had hoped. He was angry and jealous and all he wanted was for Suzy to turn to and laugh with just as his sister and Steve did.

"I was just stating what everyone thinks when they see you two together. No offense, Alex, you're totally dorky and nowhere near cool. Steve, you're a douchebag stuck on primitive constructs such as popularity. Please, continue dating, though next time you wonder where someones standards have went, they're looking back at you two wondering the same thing."

"Primitive constructs? That some stupid shit you learned at Camp... Know Nothing?" Steve shot back. In actuality, he had been hurt by Dustin's words. If there was anyone he wanted to be on great terms with— it was him. Alex thought the world of Dustin, and in return, Steve had wanted to show him that same kind of love.

"Camp Know Where, actually. And no, it's shit I learned from life. Honestly, Steve, it's nice to see you've finally managed to date somebody you actually enjoy being around instead of for popularity purposes. And this perfect girl for you so happens to be my sister. Congratulations, you've managed to open your eyes."

"Don't be mean to Steve," Alex spoke up. "I don't get why you get so mad at us for commenting on a couple, but then tell us that we shouldn't even be dating. Go ahead and talk crap about me, but don't be so rude to Steve when he did nothing wrong here. We don't actually care about anyone else's relationship that deeply and we don't care what anyone thinks of us dating. If Anna is happy with Mark, then fine. I don't care. I'm just happy I'm with Steve."

"Exactly. If your sister and I ever break up, my standards are going to be so damn high, I'll never have another girlfriend."

Dustin had bit his bottom lip for a moment before he had pulled the binoculars away from his eyes. He wanted deeply to apologize, but after the laughs from Mike and Lucas the other night and the way Mike had ran off with El rather than help him talk to Suzy, he was hurt. He had just pointed his anger at the wrong people. "Whatever. I don't really care. If you're happy, so be it. Match made in heaven, I'm sure. I'm just stating the facts that you two are not what anyone expected."

Alex's frown deepened and the hurt in her eyes had Steve reach for her hand. "Why are you being so mean to us?"

Dustin's eyes had finally met hers and then he broke. Unable to keep his eyes on hers, he had tried to keep his focus on looking out the binoculars at everyone else. He could feel her eyes staying on him, but he knew the second he looked, he would give in too much and admit why he had been so mean. Missing Suzy and having people not believe in her had hurt him more than he could ever admit out loud. "I'm sorry," he said under his breath. And that was as good as it would get for him. Anything more and the truth would escape his lips.

Alex couldn't find the right words to say as she kept her eyes on him. Steve had just sat there, unsure if he should be the one to speak up but with how upset Dustin had acted, he thought it was better to stay quiet until he could talk to Dustin one-on-one. Fortunately, the silence did not last as Dustin began to swat at Steve to catch his full attention. "Target acquired-- ten o'clock, Sam Goodys." Taking the binoculars for himself, Steve had wanted to take a look at what exactly Dustin had classified as an evil Russian. All Dustin could do was bask in his glory of finding what he thought had been the next step in their summer adventure. Alex had different plans-- after spotting the suspicious blonde man with a duffel bag, she had picked herself up from behind the bush and made her way after him.

The boys had been oblivious to her departure as they had stuck behind the bush at a very far difference. It hadn't been until they had looked to her on what they should be doing next that they had realized they were left behind. Stunned by her lack of communication on what to do next, both boys had to work quick to catch up to her-- each following after in a sprint.

Rushing up to Alex's side, Dustin had grabbed her by her arm to slow her down. "We're getting too close."

The last one to make it had been Steve, trying to avoid all the mall-goers that pushed their way through. Bumping into another man as he reached for Alex's hand, he discovered his quick pace did not sit right with everyone else that had been just as quick as him. "Hey, watch it, dickwad!" The man had yelled over his shoulder.

Alex had grown quickly exhausted with another person taking a jab at Steve and took it personally to defend him once again. Pulling her arm out of Dustin's, Alex had turned to walk backwards as she gave the man the finger, "Screw you, assface! Watch where you're walking!"

Seeing as the man they had been following had heard the loud commotion coming from directly behind him, his curiosity had him glancing over his shoulder to get an idea of what had been happening behind him. Spotting this movement, Dustin had grabbed Alex's arm, pulling it down and giving her a push off to the side to blend her into the rest of the crowd. Taking note, Steve had followed the Henderson's plan, and grabbed Alex by her waist and pressed his lips to hers. Dustin, on the other hand, had taken a fake phone call to look as busy as possible.

As soon as the man turned back around, Dustin went to chase after him when he noticed his two companions were not as eager to walk off as well. Alex had been startled by the sudden kiss, but was not going to object in anyway. Instead, she had followed Steve's lead and leaned into the kiss which had quickly became a distraction for the both of them. Spinning back around, Dustin trudged over to the two that were so caught up in each other. Rolling his eyes, he had grabbed Steve by his shirt collar and pulled him off of Alex and dragged him along.

Following after the boys, Alex had straightened herself out, hiding the pink that began to form on her cheeks. Both of the boys had stopped to hide behind a pillar as they watched the man suspiciously enter into Jazzercise. Jumping up onto the bench behind the pillar, Alex had leaned around it so she could get a look herself at what could be happening inside of Jazzercise.

The three could feel their hearts pounding against their chest, unsure what they would discover as the man had passed a group of woman. All they could believe was that this man had been up to no good and would take down Starcourt-- starting with Jazzercise first. Alex had swallowed hard as the man's eyes had shifted across the room, placing the duffel bag down. Anticipating the worst, her chest grew tight... until the man had unzipped his hoodie, a smile breaking out across his face. Whipping the jacket off himself, he had caused all the woman to cheer as they gathered into their spots.

Both the boys allowed their mouth to drop in wonder, caught up in what had been occurring in front of them. It was starting to become plainly obvious that this evil Russian they had been following was not at all what they had thought. Given the way he had moved his hips to the music and energized all the women surrounding him-- he had been the least bit evil.

When the women had followed his lead, Alex had made the decision between shielding her young brothers eyes from the way the women's body moved, or her boyfriends. Knowing Dustin could easily fend for himself, she had placed her hands over Steve's eyes. Finally feeling that bubble of laughter rise, now seeing how ridiculous this had all became, Alex had removed her hands from his eyes and turned him around to face her. Towering over him as she stood on top of the bench, she placed her hands on his shoulders as she looked down to him. "So much for blonde, not smiling, and duffel bag."

"It may have been a stretch," he agreed. Placing his hands on her waist, he had begun to help her down off the bench but when he had tilted his head up further for a better look on her face, his smile had dropped. She had seemed unfocused and had quickly looked uncomfortable with her surroundings. "Look, I know we were all pretty into this, but we can find a different evil Russian."

Removing her hands off of him, Alex hadn't paid any attention to Steve as she hopped down from the bench on her own. Keeping her back to him, she had held onto the back of her neck as a chill had ran down her spine. The hairs on the back of her neck had risen as a haunting feeling had encapsulated her. It had sprung back dark memories that caused the world around her to slowly wash away from her.

The boys had exchanged looks with one another, each unsure what had came over Alex. It wasn't unusual for her to have her moments that had her locked in her bedroom to sort out her thoughts and feelings, but this had felt different. It was rare, but when things became too much for her, it would feel as if a part of her had left them as she would get lost in her own head to relive memories that haunted her day and night. In a way, a part of Alex Henderson had been left behind the night she had first entered the Upside Down, and she continued to lose more pieces as the alternate universe had made her one of its own.