Chapter Eight:
Steve's Perfect Medical Skills
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・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Ramona gagged, scrunching her nose up as she helped Lucas and Dustin dig through the trash. "Fucking gross. I can't believe I'm digging through garbage."

Ramona continued to mutter under her breath as she tossed pieces of trash to the side. She glanced at the shed where Nancy and Steve were, wondering what they were talking about. She hoped she wasn't hurting Steve any more. Ramona had just spent the past month trying to help Steve's heartbreak, trying to fix it. And in that process of trying to help him, she'd grown to realize that he wasn't that big of an asshole like she had previously thought. Steve Harrington was actually kind of cool, sometimes.

A year ago, hell, even two months ago, if you had told Ramona that she'd actually become friends with Steve, she would've laughed in your face.

Two months ago, she put up with the boy for Nancy. But today... today Ramona would willingly hang out with him. Not that she would inflate his ego by telling him that, of course.

"Hey.." Dustin muttered, gaining the attention of Lucas. "I'm-I'm sorry about... Dart.. and all. I guess I just thought that he was my real friend. I was wrong. I broke the rule of law.. so if you want your girlfriend to take over my spot in the party, I understand."

Ramona sat back, knitting her eyebrows together as she watched Lucas carefully, waiting for his reaction.

"She's not my girlfriend." Lucas said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I saw you two holding hands on the bus, Lucas." Dustin shook his head, blinking away the tears.

"She was just scared. Ramona was all over Steve and they're not dating." Lucas pointed out causing Ramona's jaw to drop as she turned to look at him.

"Watch it." She warned, pointing at him, causing Lucas to raise his hands in surrender. "I was not all over Harrington."

"Maybe.. but I could feel it." Dustin said sadly, tearing his eyes from the garbage.

"Feel what?"

"The electricity." Dustin said with a sigh, scooping up the newspapers and disappearing.

"What does he mean by that?" Lucas asked, turning his head to lock eyes with Ramona.

Ramona paused, pursing her lips. "Um.. you'll understand when you're older."

Lucas groaned, his shoulders slouching as he crossed his arms. "I hate it when you do that."

"I know."

~~

Ramona sat with her back against the wall, Steve's lighter in her hand as she mindlessly flicked it. Her eyes focused on Steve as he practiced swinging the bat at nothing. The white gauze around her arm caused a never ending itchy feeling that she was dying to relieve, but Steve had threatened to run them dry on their rootbeer float supplies if he messed up his 'oh-so perfect medical skills' as he liked to call it.

The sound of the swing made a subtle whooshing sound as Ramona watched the flames dance from the lighter.

"Thought you thought that was annoying?" Steve asked, leaning on the bat. Ramona jumped, closing the lighter as she looked up at him. A teasing smile played against his lips as he swung the bat to rest on his shoulder. "Or is only annoying when I do it?"

"Anything's annoying when you do it, Harrington." Ramona grinned, sticking her tongue out at him as she pushed herself up from the floor. Steve rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"Oh, come on. You don't mean that." Steve said, jutting out his lip as he put a hand against his chest to fake hurt.

"I don't know, Harrington." Ramona shrugged, shoving his lighter in her jacket pocket. "Most of the shit you do annoys the fuck out of me."

Steve scoffed, shaking his head. "Whatever you say, García. You love it."

"Do I though?" Ramona pursed her lips, resting her hands on her hips as she looked up at him.

"Of course, who wouldn't-" Steve's sentence was cut short as the lights began flickering rapidly above them. Ramona's smile fell as she quickly rushed towards the window, focusing her gaze on where Will, Mike, Hopper, Jonathan, and Joyce were.

She muttered prayers in Spanish, fiddling with the locket on the necklace that she wore. Steve frowned, patting Ramona on her shoulder, making sure to avoid the bandages.

"I'm sure he's fine, García." Steve said softly, causing her to look up at him momentarily and nod her head slowly.

"Yeah.. Yeah, yeah. I know. I know." Ramona sighed, shaking her head as Steve's hand slipped from her shoulder. Ramona turned her head to look at the drawings on the wall, deciding that it would be best if she didn't torture herself by focusing on the shed.

Minutes passed in agonizing silence before the screen door was thrown open, startling Ramona.

She watched in confusion as Hopper slammed a piece of paper down on the table and began scribbling down the words.

"What happened?" Dustin asked, leaning over the table and watching as Hopper wrote lines and dashes down onto the paper. Steve moved to the side, allowing Ramona a larger window to see.

"I think he's talking, just not with words." Hopper responded.

"Hey, what is that?" Steve asked, glancing down at Ramona as she watched the older man intently.

"Morse code." The boys replied, causing Steve to purse his lips and nod his head.

"H-E-R-E." Hopper spelled out, writing tthe letters down as he spoke.

"Here.." Ramona mumbeled, a small smile forming on her face. "So, he's okay?"

"Will's still in there. He's talking to us."

Jonathan nodded, disappearing into the hallway before reappearing minutes later with a boombox in his hands. He, Hopper and Joyce left the house, bringing a tape and a boombox with him.

Ramona paced back and forth as she chewed on her nail. "Okay, I got it. C!"

"C.. C.. C." She muttered, shaking her head. "C."

"García, you're gonna wear yourself out." Steve pointed out, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall.

"I don't give a shit, Harrington." Ramona muttered, shooting him a look as she paused.

"L!" Lucas said.

"L.. L.. C-L.." Ramona shook her head, continuing to murmur the letters

"Seriously, you haven't eaten today and you lost a lot of blood earlier." Steve said, "Just sit down and breathe."

"I'm fine, Harrington." Ramona said, stopping in her tracks and crossing her arms as she set her glare on him.

"O."

"O.. O. O. C-L-O-"

"Jesus, García. Just sit down!"

"S."

"S. C-L-O-S." Ramona muttered, blinking rapidly as she inhaled sharply.

Will was like a little brother to her, and the thought of him suffering.. it sent chills down Ramona's spine. The thought of him being there, so.. so scared and alone. She hated it.

The thought of being so close to getting Will back, but missing and failing to save him.. It turned Ramona into an anxious wreck.

"E."

"E.  C-L-O-S-E. Close!" Ramona snapped her fingers. Steve let out a huff as he pushed himself off of the wall and walked towards Ramona. He grabbed her by the shoulders, gently, as he led her to an empty chair.

"G."

"There. Stay." He pointed at her, "You and your pacing was driving me crazy."

"You drive me crazy." Ramona snapped, hardening her glare on him.

Steve nodded, deciding that this was a good distraction for her. "What do you hate about me?"

"A."

"I don't hate you, Harrington." Ramona muttered, rolling her eyes and looking down at her feet. "Strongly dislike, sure, but.. not hate."

Shaking his head, Steve raised his eyebrows. "If you say so, García."

"T."

"How do you feel about pancakes, when this is all over?" Steve asked, "You need to eat."

"I would literally shove Max's skateboard up someone's ass for some food right now." Ramona grumbled, crossing her arms.

"E!"

Ramona's ears perked up as she craned her neck to look at the notebook Nancy held.

"Close gate."

The sound of the phone ringing caused Ramona's blood to turn cold. "Fuck!"

"Shit. Shit, shit!" Dustin cursed, rushing over and pulling the phone from it's holder before slamming it against the wall. Tension filled the air as the room fell eerily quiet. Seconds later, the phone rang again. Nancy inhaled sharply, pulling the phone from the wall and throwing it to the ground, muttering curses under her breath.

"Do you think he heard that?" Max asked shakily.

"It.. it's just the phone, it could be anywhere. Right?" Steve asked, trying to reassure the group around him.

"Oh, we're so fucked!" Ramona grumbled, raking her hands through her hair. "Harrington, we're so fucked."

The sound of the creatures wailing in the distance caused Ramona's hair to stand up on the back of her neck.

"That's not good." Dustin shook his head.

"No shit, that's not good!" Ramona snapped, covering her face with her hands as Hopper appeared in the living room.

"Hey! Get away from the windows!" He snapped, causing Max, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin to stumble back away from the glass.

"Do you know how to use this?" Hopper asked, holding out a shot gun to Jonathan.

"Wha- I-"

"Can you use this?" He repeated.

"I can." Hopper nodded, tossing the gun to her.

"Oh, I really wish I kept my crowbar with me!"

"Where are they?" Max peered out the window from afar. Ramona yelped, jumping back, accidentally stumbling into Steve, as the roaring grew closer, followed by loud thudding.

"What are they doing?"

The sound of rustling leaves put the girl on edge as she straightened her back. A scream left her smudged red tinted lips as a creature was thrown through the window, causing glass to spray onto the group.

"Is it dead?" Ramona asked, resting her hand on her chest. "It better be dead!"

"Holy shit." Dustin muttered as Hopper gently kicked the hopefully dead demo-dog.

The sound of the door unlocking caused Ramona to whip around, apologizing as she knocked into Steve again.

Hopper stepped in front of the group, raising his gun and pointing it towards the door. The door slowly creaked open, causing Ramona's throat to dry as her eyes landed on the figure stepping in.

"Eleven?"

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

{ A/n: wow,, um,,, them >>> }

{ Edited: No }