CHAPTER 40
FIND YOUR SUZIE

THE kiss seemed to last forever. Veronica didn't expect to clutch Steve tighter, nor did she expect for him to tangle his hands into her hair. The electricity was flowing through them like a powerline, sparking up whenever they broke away for air. Their hands were still laced, unable to break human contact, and Veronica was suddenly reminded of when she fell in love with Steve Harrington in the first place.

God, she thought to herself, are we as bad as the other couples performing PDA in a movie theater?

Steve leaned away, breathing in deeply through his nose, while his lips still lingered inches away from hers. His breath reeked, but Veronica still felt the quiet urge to kiss him again, to remember the stupid thing she let go. Steve's eyes were closed as he pressed his cheek against hers, drowsiness taking over his entire body. Pushing tufts of hair from his face, Veronica asked, "Are you okay?"

"Do you ..." Steve slumped, thumb occasionally brushing over her bronzed hand. "Do you want to go somewhere else?"

She bit her lip. It was a bad idea, she knew that, but she couldn't fight her desire to follow and kiss him all over again. His eyes opened. The dilation had died; the pretty brown ring had returned to his pupils, but Veronica questioned if the drug was still talking for him.

"No, Steve," she whispered. "We have to stay –"

He was pulling her up before she could finish her statement. With one hand on her hip, bringing her close to his chest, Veronica couldn't help but giggle as Steve guided her out of the theater. They tried tiptoeing in the darkness, but that was like finding a needle in a haystack as laughter took over their bodies, almost causing them to tumble forward. They held onto each other like nothing could break them apart. Veronica never wanted to move away.

Robin watched the interaction unfold with wide eyes. Upon seeing them leave the theater, she had tried crawling over the middle-aged people in front of her to stop them, but it was already too late. "Shit!" She whispered to herself, receiving a few shushes around her. She sent the culprits a glare before running off to find Dustin.

Steve stumbled into the empty women's bathroom first, dragging Veronica in by the sleeve of her uniform. He pressed her against the door, pushing wisps of faded blue hair out of her eyes, before placing a sloppy kiss on her jawline. Veronica wanted to push him off – it was the right thing – but she couldn't help herself. She really couldn't. She was selfish and she wanted to indulge in her past for just a little while, even if it was wrong.

Locking his lips onto hers, Veronica tasted the familiar flavor of cinnamon gum on his tongue. She always complained that he couldn't like spearmint like any other regular person, but now, she craved it like the nicotine that ran through her veins. Her head pounded, but she didn't care. Veronica tangled her arms around his neck, feeling the goosebumps on his skin that rose at her touch. Just a mere brush of her skin had him pausing in place, mouth lingering over hers to catch his breath. She found her brow furrowing once she opened her eyes.

"Steve?" She tilted her head to the side as he brought a hand to his mouth. "Are you going to be –"

He ran at the speed of light, quickly untangling himself from her grip. Steve shoved himself into an open stall and began to hurl his guts out. Veronica followed closely behind. She swung the red stall door open and got down on her knees, holding Steve's hair back as he retched into the toilet over and over again. She grimaced at the smell.

After the five minute mark, Veronica wondered how long he'd be puking the drug out of his system, but he stopped before she could make a prediction. Releasing one last chunk into the toilet, Steve coughed and hung his head low into the bowl. "God, I hate that you're not puking right now," he muttered and flushed the toilet. Steve sat up to lean against the stall, shaking his head. "I feel awful."

"They gave you three times the amount of that drug than I was given." Veronica shrugged, using the back of her hand to wipe a few pieces of food from his chin. Her lip curled back in disgust for a moment. "But I think you puked it all up right now. My brain feels like it has arthritis."

Steve rubbed at his temples. "Yeah, well, my head hurts worse than a hangover."

Veronica chuckled, getting to her feet and walking over to the paper towel roll on top of the sink. She grabbed a handful and soaked them under warm water before walking back over to Steve, sinking down onto the dirty floor. Steve sat with his legs open, allowing her to scoot closer and dab the warm water onto his black eye.

"Ow, ow," he complained.

"It's going to be sensitive," she quipped. "Just let me do this. It'll help you feel better."

He rolled his eyes, staying silent as she continued her job. Steve smiled the tiniest bit. He had never really seen her in such a mothering role. It was almost kinda funny.

"Okay," she breathed, pressing the paper towel onto the ring of purple around his eye, "how about I ask you some questions to see if you're in the right state of mind?"

Steve raised a brow.

"What is your name?" She asked, ignoring his silent response.

"Steve Harrington."

"Full name."

He sighed, "Steven Douglas Harrington."

"Douglas," she laughed. "I never knew that."

Steve frowned, "Can you just continue with your questions?"

"Fine, fine. When's your birthday?"

"June 9th, 1966."

"Your age?"

He looked away, almost in shame. "I just turned nineteen."

"What's your favorite thing in the whole world?"

Steve grinned and met her stare again. His eyes lit up. "My hairspray."

She narrowed her eyes, releasing a soft chuckle. "Okay, now I know you're back to normal, asshole."

Steve licked his lips as a reply hung onto the tip of his tongue. He debated on staying silent, until he realized no time would be right to voice it, so he might as well say it now.

"I think it's time for me to ask you a question. You know, to check your state of mind." He paused, watching her smirk, not knowing the difficulty of the question he was about to ask. "Why did you kiss me back there? In the theater, I mean."

Veronica blinked, caught off guard. She lowered her hand and rested the soaked paper towel on her knee. The water began to soak through the denim of her jeans. "Um," she chewed on her bottom lip, turning away to look at anything but his eyes. He already knew the truth. What was the use in lying?

"To get you to wake up," she answered quickly, "like an adrenaline rush. I thought a brush of human contact would –"

"So ..." He narrowed his eyes, as if his stare was like an x-ray into her mind. She hoped not. "You didn't do it because you still have feelings for me?"

She glared at him. "Are you really trying to act smooth with me?" Veronica tilted her head to the side and brought her hand up again, realizing the paper towel had gone slightly cold in her palm. "Those old tricks may have worked in high school, Harrington, but they don't work now."

"You know," he exhaled, "ever since Dustin got home, he's been saying, 'You gotta find your Suzie. You gotta find your Suzie.' The guy just won't shut up about it. But ... I don't know. I think I found her a long time ago." He dragged his tongue over his bottom lip, meeting her dark stare. "My Suzie and I – we're not together anymore, and that's okay, because that means she can live her dreams, you know?"

Veronica closed her eyes for a moment and frowned. She tossed the cold paper towel in the toilet and flushed it down, trying to distract herself from the conversation unfolding between them. "Steve –"

"Hey, hey, I'm not finished." He wagged a finger in front of her. "I just – I hope this Suzie knows that I'll love her no matter what. She'll always be my epic love story."

Veronica's eyes were kind. There was none of the usual spite or bitterness within them, only warmth. It made Steve's heart beat faster than normal.

"Can you make me a promise?" He asked, drumming his fingers against her thigh.

"How can I not after that speech?"

Steve chuckled. "As much as you want to deny it, I know somewhere –" He jabbed his pointing finger into her chest. "– Deep down in that cold, frost-bitten heart of yours – that you still have feelings for me. If we get out of this alive, how about you give me a second chance?"

Her mouth went dry as soon as she opened it. No words surface. Her temples weren't pounding as hard anymore, but it seemed that her entire brain had turned into a pile of mush. "I don't know if I –"

The door burst open, and in walked Dustin with Erica and Robin following in tow. The couple on the floor whipped their heads in the direction of the door, and Veronica needed to stop herself from laughing at the angry expression on Dustin's face. "Okay," he huffed, hands on his hips, "what the hell?!"

"I ..." Veronica shrugged, slapping her hands onto her legs. "I was helping Steve get the drugs out of his system."

Robin wrinkled her freckled nose. "By playing tonsil hockey?"

Veronica looked to Steve, finally noticing how close they truly were, and how suspicious this might look: her sitting between his legs, inches from his face. They smirked towards each other before Veronica looked over her shoulder towards Robin. With a chuckle, she replied, "Guess so."

•••

They had to wait for the perfect time to exit. Dustin watched the outside of the theater with bated breath, and once he heard people shifting out into the main hallway, he knew it was time to blend in. He tugged on Erica's hand, allowing the rest of the group to follow and camouflage themselves into the crowd. Everyone was talking about how good Back to the Future was, but Veronica hardly had the strength to pretend. She held her breath, clutching Steve's hand like no one was watching.

Erica looked around, shuffling out with the crowd of rowdy adults. "Well, shit, that worked."

"'Course it worked," Dustin grinned. "At this point, we're way too far to get to Steve's car so Ronnie can hot-wire it. We just have to get on the bus with the rest of these plebes, and home sweet home, here we come."

Veronica glanced at Steve with wide eyes, causing the brunette to mutter, "Uh – Dustin? We might not wanna go to your house."

Dustin lifted a brow. "Why?"

"Well," Veronica said, dragging out the word, "Steve might've fucked up and –"

"Might've told the Russians your full name," Steve finished.

Dustin spun his head around, brows shooting to the top of his head. Robin chuckled at the interaction. "What is wrong with you?!"

"Dude, I was drugged."

"So?"

"So?"

"So, you resist," Dustin scoffed, meandering to the exit of the movie theater. "You tough it out. You tough it out like a man."

Steve narrowed his eyes. "Oh, yeah, it's easy for you to say –"

"Guys?" Robin choked out and pulled her friends back, causing them to almost trip over their own feet. "Company."

Veronica searched the crowd, eyes finally landing on the group of Russians that tried to attack them on the loading dock. One man had a jet-black ponytail and bushy brows, while the other was blonde and perfect, almost like a Ken doll. Veronica instinctively stepped back and dragged Steve along with her. "This can't be good," she muttered.

"Abort," Dustin whispered as Ponytail's stare found him in the crowd. "Abort. Abort!"

Veronica shifted backward before finally taking off into a jog. She took the lead, shoving people out of their way, while still firmly holding onto Steve's right hand in the process. Their only other way out of the theater was through a set of escalators, but Veronica came to a dead stop as they approached it. The escalators were closed for construction.

She looked over her shoulders. The Russians were on her tail.

Robin placed a hand on her coworker's shoulder, dragging her finger through the air to help Veronica notice another way out. In between the two escalators was a skinny railing, and with a wide grin, Robin got up on it and planted her butt down. Veronica opened her mouth to protest, but upon realizing that they only had seconds left, she shook her head and followed Robin down the slide.

The mall was closing. All the lights were slowly flickering out; doors were being locked. They had had the theater's last showing of Back to the Future for the night. In just five minutes, the crowds that had been surrounding them vanished into the parking lot. There wasn't much for them to blend in to. Veronica was starting to count her blessings. There was no way for them to get out this time.

She followed Robin and jumped behind the stand at Great Cookie, hiding beneath the counter that housed their famous cookie dough. The food court was completely empty. They were left in the darkness with only each other for comfort. Steve held Veronica close, shielding them underneath the food stand, and unaware of Erica's disgusted facial expression.

Just minutes later, the sound of sneakers squeaking against a clean floor made Veronica's ears perk up. She shifted, bumping her head against the counter. "Ow," she whispered, earning a few shushes from the people huddled around her. Veronica sunk back into Steve's grip, focusing on the new voices emerging into the food court, all speaking in Russian. She swallowed hard.

They were close now. She could practically smell them. They were closing in on them, sensing their presence from a mile away. Veronica panted and closed her eyes, hoping for it all to be over soon. After what she experienced last year on Halloween, the last thing she expected was to die at the hands of a human. But it was too late for them. She was never going to see her dad again, or go to college, or go to that stupid BYOB party that every freshman seemed to rave about. She could hear their steps growing closer. The spies turned off the safety on their guns. They were going to –

An alarm went off, followed by a series of loud honks. Veronica opened one eye and wondered if she was hearing things correctly. The car alarm continued to wail louder and louder. "What the hell?" One of the men scoffed in a thick Russian accent.

It wasn't long before the car was flying in their direction, killing them instantly as it crashed against the side of Great Cookie. Veronica rocked forward, clutching onto Steve's collar for dear life, and looking around her for any damage. Everyone else was okay. Despite the accident, they were all alive. The car hissed steam into the air as the group of teenagers stood up, lifting their heads in the direction of the source.

Eleven stood above them, a trickle of blood running down her nose, as the rest of her friends surrounded her. Maybe Veronica still had a chance to go to college after all.

•••

A/N: So much softness in this chapter 🥺🥺

( made by JustSav )