"Do you have any batteries? Double A?" Dustin asked as he dropped into the seat because  Erica, the boys walkie dying while he was trying to tell Mike they needed help.  Erica looked at him like he was an idiot, her face scrunching up as she answered.

"Why would I have batteries?"

"I always carry batteries."

"Then what's the problem?" Erica asked, not seeing the issue.

"I need eight."  Dustin said, looking down at the walkie talkie.

"Eight?"

"Shit. Guess we'll have to go to plan B." Dustin said, his mind formulating the plan as he looked at the floor in front of him.

"Plan B? What's plan B?" Erica asked, Dustin looking past her and to the spot that the three older teens were. There was one small problem,  the fact that only Christine was left in the seats, the girl slumped over and clearly not awake.

"Where...are they?" Dustin asked, his breathing picking up as he looked at Erica with wide eyes and an accusatory look.  Erica looked at him with wide eyes and an open mouth, the boy quickly getting up and  crouching , running towards the girl at the end of the row. He approached her with worry, the boy hoping she didn't OD or something on whatever drug they had put them on. He lifted his finger to Christines neck, feeling her pulse and also a few light snores over the sound of the movie, the boy realizing she was actually just asleep.

"Is she dead?" Erica asked in a whisper, Dustin shaking this head at her and then proceeding to shake her shoulders gently.

"Christine...Christine. Christine! Wake up!" Dustin whisper yelled, the girl stirring and stretching slightly. She opened her eyes to look at Dustin,  the world still spinning ridiculously as she lifted the drink in her hand  and took a sip of it.

"Hey guys. Hey Dustin." Christine said in a innocent tone, Dustin shaking his head quickly before grabbing her arm.  He pulled he dad hard as he could, taking the girl into the hallway by the entrance and grabbing her by the shoulders.

"Where did Steve and Robin go?!"  The girl looked at him in complete confusion, shaking her head as she realized she had no idea.

"I don't know."

:::

Steve was laid against the side of the stall, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he flushed the toilet full of puke, the boy feeling completely wiped out from puking mercilessly and also from getting beaten up. Robin was resting against the floor in the other stall, her legs up against the side of the stall as she put her arms to both sides of her, feeling like this was the best  position for her to not puke again.

"The ceiling stopped spinning for me. Is it still spinning for you?" Robin asked, the boy quickly looking up at the ceiling to assess.

"Holy shit. No. You think we puked it all up?"

"Maybe. Ask me something. Interrogate me." She said in a Russian accent, Steve slightly laughing at the reference to their terrible past 24 hours.

"Okay. Interrogate you. Sure. Um....when was the last time you peed your pants?" Steve asked, leaning on the bakc of the toilet.

"Today."

"What?" Steve asked in pure amusement, looking at the red stall wall.

"When the Russian doctor took out the bone saw." Steve burst into laughter, the boy exclaiming in amusement as she sat up from the floor. "It was just a little bit though."

"Yeah it's definitely still in her system." They both laughed, Robin putting her back against the wall as Steve groaned in the other stall.  

"Alright my turn."

"Okay. Hit me." Steve said, looking straight ahead as she said it, wondering what she would ask.

"Have you...ever been in love?" This question hit  him unusually hard, Steve furrowing his eyebrows as he quickly answered.

"Yep. Nancy Wheeler. First semester, Senior year." Steve lifted his hand to his heart, mimicking a gunshot  through the chest as he dryly chuckled. Still the thought of how she hurt him made him wince a little, the boy hating the topic.

"Oh my god. She's such a priss."

"Hm. Turns out, not really." Steve said,  knowing it was the truth. He got flashes of Nancy, all the things she had done and who she actually was, aside from what everyone perceived her to be. He didn't hate her, he could never, even if she had left him for Jonathan and broken his heart unlike any other.

"Are you still in love with Nancy?" Steve didn't even have to think , remembering the moment he had had earlier but also the conflict in his chest.

"No."

"Why not?" Robin asked curiously, her head tilting slightly to the side as she said it.

"I think it's because I found someone who's a little bit better for me." Steve said, the boy knowing where he was going with this but internally wondering why he was going there. Robin felt a sense of dread course through her, hoping to god that he wasn't talking about her.  "It's crazy. Ever since Dustin got home, he's been saying you know 'you gotta find your Suzie. You gotta find your Suzie.' You've gotta choose Steve."

"Wait who's Suzie?" Robin asked curiously, trying to stall the conversation.

"It's some girl from camp, I guess his girlfriend. To be honest with you I'm not 100% sure she's even real. But that's not- that's not really the point.  The point is this girl, you know,  the one that I like...it's somebody that I didn't even talk to in school. And I don't even know why. Maybe cause Tommy H. would have made fun of me...or I wouldn't be Prom King. It's stupid. I mean Dustins right, it's all a bunch of bullshit anyways. Because when I think about it I should've  been  hanging out with this girl the whole time. First of all, she's hilarious. She's so funny. I feel like this summer I have laughed harder than I have laughed...in a really long time. The only person that makes me laugh anymore is Christine and this girl.  And she's smart. Way smarter than me. You know,  she can crack top secret Russian codes and...you know? She's honestly unlike anyone I've ever met before." Robin dropped her head between her knees as he said all of this, the girl feeling dread and sorrow and guilt and nervousness as she listened to him confess his feelings for her.

"Robin?  Robin did you just OD  over there?" Steve asked, tapping on the stall wall to see if  she was still alive.

"No. I...am still alive." She said begrudgingly, the girl letting out a deep sigh as she sat back against the wall. Steve scooted forwards, grabbing the stall and sliding under so that he was sitting  across from her. "The floors disgusting."

"Yeah well  I already got a bunch of blood and puke on my shirt, so...what do you think?" Steve asked, gesturing to his shirt and then looking up at her. Robin stared up at him, her heartbeat pounding as she tried to think of how she could get out of this.

"About?"

"This girl." Steve said, not being able to really meet her eye.

"She sounds awesome." Robin said, nodding at Steve.

"She is awesome. And what about the guy?"

"I think he's on drugs , and he's not thinking straight."  Robin said, looking him in the face as Steve looked at his shoes.

"Really? Because I think he's thinking a lot more clearly than usual."

"He's not." Robin said, the girl reaching forwards and dropping her hand onto Steve's. He sucked in a breath as she spoke again, his heart filling with some kind of hope that she would reciprocate the way he was feeling. "Why do you keep lying to yourself Steve?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion at her words. Robin gave him a knowing smile, her hand lifting from his as she laid her head back against the wall.

"This girl...you don't really like her. And you know it. She may be awesome...but she's not Christine Wheeler." Robins words held a certain clarity to them, Steve knowing deep down that they were true. He felt his heart rate pick up at the mention of Christine, his eyes fluttering closed for a second , the boy really and truly and honestly reaching into the depths of his heart to think of what to say next.

"I can't." Steve admitted, his eyes opening as Robin gave him a sorry expression.

"You love her. Steve! I have seen it with my own two eyes. Every single day you wait for her to visit, no matter what terms she left on before, because you know she's always going to visit anyways and it's the best part of your day. You mope and  complain until she comes by and suddenly your life is happy and sunshine. You talk about her...all the time, how shes strong, how's she annoying, how you can't stand her, how she's your best friend. You love her. You even show it. The way that you knew exactly how to calm her when she had her panic attack. You know exactly how to apologize when you've done absolutely nothing wrong, and when you got so worried about her lunch date.  She is everything to you.  So what is holding you back Steve?" Robin rambled, Steve dropping his head between his arms, the boy running his fingers through his hair as someone finally put into words the completely obvious way that he felt towards her. Steve already knew all of this, he already could tell that it was true he couldn't even think of how to deny it now. He did feel that way. Steve did love her.

"It's so hard." He tried to think of how to explain what was holding him back, what was keeping him from what he truly wanted.

"What is it? What is so hard that it's keeping you from true love?" The words rang through the air, Steve feeling the last two punch him right in the chest. He wondered what it was, why it was so hard. He wondered if it was her last name, or the friendship they had. The way that Christine was the best person he had ever met, and he couldn't bear the thought of losing her if they broke up. How he had pushed her  away and broke her heart once, and when he saw her cry he couldn't  imagine doing it again. He could see the pain that his relationship with Nancy had caused him, and maybe he was just afraid that it would end up something like that.

"I can't get my heart broken again." Steve answered,  feeling like that was a good enough reason.  Robin didn't believe him though, the girl shaking her head at him and then looking down at the floor.

"Steve...you can come up with as many excuses as you want, but in the end there is nothing but yourself keeping you from being happy." Robin said, Steve finally looking at her, the words out of her mouth making him realize how absolutely right she was. He was happy with her, and the only reason he wasn't with her was because he was too afraid of what she could give him, and how he could be happy. Steves eyebrows slightly raised, the boy blinking a few times as he realized she must be right, she must be. Christine was the breath in his lungs, and he needed her just like he needed that air.

"And as for the other part...the guy doesn't know this girl. And if he did know her, like—like really know her, I don't think he'd even want to be her friend."

"No that's not true. No way is that true."  Steve said, his mind leaving Christine momentarily to go to what Robin was saying about him liking her.

"Listen to me Steve. It's shocked me to my core, but I like you. I really like you. But I'm not like your other friends. And I'm not like Christine or Nancy Wheeler."