wires, steve harrington

six.

now that dart had escaped, it was up to the new trio to discover where he was and to stop him, maybe even kill him, before he could do any more damage. meadow was, as usual, extremely frustrated with the world and the fact that she was, once again, trying to stop some otherworldly creature. but, more powerful than her anger, was her desire to keep her brother safe.

dustin had been calling his friends nonstop to inform them of his findings with dart, but, still, no one seemed to answer. lucas finally picked up, understandably confused about everything that was going on. "i'll explain later," dustin said, "just meet me, meadow, and steve at the old junkyard."

"steve?" lucas questioned.

dustin didn't miss a beat, ignoring his question. "and bring your binoculars and wrist-rocket."

lucas was still confused as to why steve would possibly be involved. "steve harrington?"

"just be there, stat!" dustin ordered. "over and out."

meadow, meanwhile grabbed a bucket of meat from steve's trunk. the group intended to use the meat to lure dart to the abandoned junkyard. there, in a more open space, they could have a better advantage of fighting him.

steve closed the trunk of his car, holding his bat in one hand and a bucket of meat in the other. "are you okay?" he asked, looking to meadow.

"what do you mean?" she replied, looking up at him.

steve coughed awkwardly. "i mean.. i mean, with dart. that thing. it didn't hurt you, did it?" meadow shook her head, chuckling. "i was just checking!" steve told her.

she laughed again, not understanding why he was suddenly so protective over her. she shook the idea off, knowing that the more she thought about it, the more her anxious overthinking would ensue. she instead thought about the way that the train tracks looked; counting each nail that she stepped over as she dropped meat to the ground next to her, making a trail for the baby demogorgon to follow.

the group walked along the train tracks, sprinkling meat as they went. "alright, so, let me get this straight." steve said as they walked. "you kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl who.. you just met?"

"a girl you didn't even tell me you liked." meadow added, a bit offended that her brother didn't tell her.

dustin scoffed. "alright, that's grossly oversimplifying things."

"i mean, why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?" steve continued, dropping a chunk of meat.

"an inter dimensional slug?" dustin asked. "because it's awesome!"

steve's brows furrowed in disagreement to his statement, continuing on with his point. "well, even if she thought it was cool, which she didn't, i just.. i don't know, i just feel like you're trying too hard."

dustin pouted. "well, not everyone can have your perfect hair, alright?"

"it's not about the hair, man." steve insisted. "the key with girls is just.. acting like you don't care."

meadow looked up, confused. "even if you do?" dustin asked.

"yeah, exactly." steve pressed. "it drives them nuts."

meadow scoffed. "now let me stop you right there before you give him worse ideas." she pushed steve over so that she now stood between the two boys, looking down at her brother. "don't do anything he just said. if you act like you don't care, then she'll think you don't care."

"no!" steve insisted. "it'll drive her crazy. you wait to say anything until you feel it. that.. sexual electricity." meadow coughed, uncomfortable. "you feel that, and then you make your move."