Apologies for the short chappy. Enjoy!
She didn't particularly like to steal, it was just necessary at times. She needed a new outfit, and besides, the store clerk was giving her googley eyes the second she stepped in. She managed to snag a pair of jeans and sneakers, and a patterned sweater. She dumped her dirty clothes in her backpack and made her way across the street to a general store called Melvald's.
The bells above her rang as she pushed her hands against the cold glass door.
"Hello!" A cheery voice from behind the counter rang.
She gave the woman standing by the cash register a refined nod, and moved to the back of the store. She found a pack of smokes among other things in a secluded isle and stuffed them in her front pouch, swinging the backpack over her shoulder.
She tightened the strap, pretending to browse the selection of candies while the store clerk walked down to her isle, stalking.
The woman had friendly eyes, but her lips twitched nervously. She reeked of anxiety, and her messily strewn hair proved it as well. She had recognized the woman's face before, and her mind flashed back to the day in the diner. She was drinking coffee and watched as the woman removed a poster with Will Byers' name on it.
"If you don't mind me asking, are you new in town?" The woman's voice shook her from her stupor. "I feel as if I've seen you before, but I'm not sure."
"Oh, um… just passing by." She shoved her hands into her jean pockets, rocking back on the balls of her feet.
She nodded, an 'ah' escaping her lips as she stocked the feminine products on a shelf a little too low for her height.
Did this mean that was Will Byers' mom? Joyce? Hopper had spoken about her before, how he took trips with them to the lab while they ran tests on Will. The way he spoke about Joyce made her spectacle about whether or not he was crushing on the girl he knew from middle school. HE hoped so. She was a very jumpy one, making quick jerking movements, but she seemed sweet— a good match for Hopper perhaps. Unfortunately, Hop had also mentioned that she was seeing someone.
"If you don't mind me asking," She challenged, "Are you a friend of Hop's?"
The woman's thin brows rose, her messy fringe starting to peek down to her eyelids. "Oh, uh. Well everyone knows Hopper. Yeah, but—yeah," She nervously twitched. "I guess I am."
She nodded.
She stood from her box of supplies, dusting her hands off on her green vest, and held a hand out. "I'm Joyce. Joyce Byers."
Naomi nodded, taking her hand and smiling back. "Elizabeth Green." Her cover-up name was different every time, and she couldn't trust anyone with FBI agents walking around demanding answers from innocent, fragile women like Joyce Byers. "My friends call me Beth, though. I was visiting Hopper from out of town, old friend of my mother's," She lied. When she took her hand, she felt the cold sensation that she had with Hopper. She was more controlled this time, and she could stop herself from taking the pain—but she couldn't help herself.
She saw the way Joyce nervously twitched, curling her thin hair between her fingers, or drummed her fingers fretfully against her leg. She could hear how fast her heart was racing only from talking to a stranger. She had heard the stories about Will being in the Upside Down, and Hopper had told her what it did to a woman who loved her son so much.
She kept shaking the woman's hand in greeting, and wrapped her other hand on her forearm.
Despite the thick sweater, Joyce still saw the black veins spiral and meander up Naomi's pale skin, and it made her freeze. She watched as the woman relaxed to her touch, but her heart was still trouncing in her chest from what had just happened.
She released the woman, saying nothing, and walked past her, giving her a polite smile as she exited the store.
When she glanced back in through the display window, she saw Joyce frozen with wide eyes, gawking as Naomi rounded the corner; exiting her sight.
It was nice to ease others' pain; made her feel less hollow inside.
She made her way to the library next, decided that when she did leave town, she'd like a few good books to read when crashing at aged motels (the one's that smelled of piss and had cigarette burns in the pillows).
She made her way to the horror section, as per usual, and browsed for the next hour or so.
The library was her happy place. Books made her forget the monster she was, for a moment at least. Maybe the reason she liked horror so much was because the fiend's in the book made her feel less monstrous.
She picked up a few, even started to read a couple on the nearby leather couch. She had gotten lost in Stephen King's Christine, when she allowed her eyes to flutter close.
She drifted into a light slumber, her consciousness ebbing away after a long night of running.
A few hours had passed by the time she had woken up, and she was glad to have gotten a few minutes of peace. She hated the fact that she had wasted the entire day, and she decided staying in Hawkins one more day wouldn't hurt.
She knew she was stalling, she couldn't deny that of herself, but she felt like her heart was being tugged at every time she even thought of leaving Hawkins.
Maybe she would stay…. Just for a little while. She didn't want to be invited back. She had a bad habit of holding a grudge- she could admit that. She just wanted to wait until things cooled down, see if Hopper really did take what Naomi and eleven said into account. Was Eleven mad at her? Or scared? She was so confused from their last encounter. Hopper had said 'They're hunting her for a reason' and the look Eleven shot her broke her damn heart.
She was scared… She would rather be shot down by a bunch of hunters then run from this town, leaving Hopper and Eleven behind.
She was so mad though!
She couldn't bear the thought of not seeing them again though, even if they didn't want her around.
She felt like she had a rationale finally— a purpose to stop running. It was a reason to finally stick around and do something, instead of hopping from place to place, stealing blood bags and money whilst crashing at dilapidated motels and sitting at bars or diners until the late hours of the morning.
And just as quickly as she had obtained that rationale, she lost it.
So here she was, reading her horror novels splayed out on the off-white sheets of a motel bed in the dimly-lit room just on the outskirts of Hawkins. She had snuck her way in, stealing the keys and writing her name down in the system. She was okay with crashing here, somehow—compared to the other grimey places she slept in over the country, she felt more at peace here, even considering the state of the room was almost identical to her previous bed-surfing.
She was not ready to leave yet
A day had passed—she was surprised to not see Hopper lingering around town. She did see one deputy, but she thought nothing of it. She wandered the town, curiously mapping out the place that she had resided in for the past year. She had been in town a few times, but not often; and only for quick errands.
It was a farm town, for the most part. Downtown Hawkins had a few general stores, a few clothing stores, a small mall, a movie theatre, and two grocery shops. The rest of it was your regular suburban neighborhood with the lingering odor of cow manure
Taking on a new tactic, she tried to blend into the busiest parts of town, ensuring that the hunters would likely be looking for her on the outskirts. She was surprised, and scared, at the fact that they had still hung around this long to find her.
What made her so worth killing?
She knew the answer to that question, and she hated that she did.
Eventually, Jasper would coming running back to her. She knew that. It was some sort of coven bond. She knew that they would use her to get to him—to kill one of the oldest, most powerful supernatural creatures in the entire underworld.
She decided to head to the hospital. She knew she shouldn't go there… but things had died down the past year. She'd stay hidden, she'd blend with others, and she'd hope to not get caught stealing blood bags.
She had finished two whole bags last night. Stress-eating was something she did often, and she decided to blame Hopper for that.
The scent of antibacterial cleaner hit her like a truck as she walked through the glass doors to the hospital. That, and the smell of blood. It had been a long time since she had set foot in a hospital, since Hop did it for her.
She tried to hold her breath as she walked past a gurney with a very healthy young patient on it, bleeding out as they waited to go into emergency. The scent was very overpowering for her, but she walked hastily and tried to act casual as she darted down halls; dodging patients and scrub-clad others.
She had emerged into the surgical wing, breaking the double locks and pushing through the twin doors. She followed the scent to a door that read 'Transfusions' and pushed the locked door open with her rigid shoulder.
Her stomach growled, and she surprised herself by how hungry she was. A bag a week usually did it for her—but again, she did stress eat. She was bored, too. She tossed a few bags into her grossly overfilled beige knapsack.
When she had grabbed a few different types, such as A-, B+, even O-, she zipped it close. The different types of blood tasted different for her, just as every single person's blood tasted different. It was like trying different flavors food. Some were savory, some sweet. Some more viscous, others more serous.
She fast-paced out the previously locked room and exited the surgery wing.
When she made her way to the bottom floor, she caught a familiar smell. She couldn't quite put a name to it, but she knew the scent. It was like seeing someone's face in public, and you had that familiarity wash over you like you knew them, but you couldn't remember how; or where.
She continued down the last hallway to the front of the building, and spun her head back to take one last glance; just in case she saw the face to the scent, or caught glimpse of the hunters.
Just as she was turning her head back around, ready to push open the doors, she slammed into a body that felt more like a brick wall then a human being.
A small 'oof' escaped her lips, and she raised her head to apologize to the man, until she saw his face.
James Winchester.
Behind him, his brother lurked; his attention locked onto something in his hands.
"Told you we'd find her," James gave a cheeky half smile, and she frowned.
This hospital was much too busy for them to do anything that involved fatality or a serious injury; with CCTV and visitors walking past them every five seconds.
She raised a boastful brow, stalling and taking the time she had in the open public to speak to the two men she hadn't seen in just under a year.
"Got nothing better to do then search for me? I mean, I gotta say I'm not all that interesting boys." She bit her lip, crossing her arms over her hands.
They were both fashioning black suits, a turtle neck underneath with grey and beige patterns.
"What the hell is so interesting about Hawkins Indiana?" Sebastian asked from behind James, raising a condescending brow in return.
She shrugged, "Nice people, good company. Frankly, I'm pretty sick of running from you two as well. I gotta say, you're two persistent sons of bitches."
"Tell you what," James replied, ignoring everything she had just said, "How about we give you a five second head start, hey? Just for some fun?"
She threw her head back, a maniacal chuckle escaping her ajar mouth. Today, they were going to be her bitch. She spoke the truth: She was sick of running. She didn't know if she could beat these two; but she knew she could put up one hell of a fight.
They shot her looks of mystification, and she grabbed James hand in that split second she had where they exchanged glances, and shook it. She shook it hard, damn hard. She gave him a bright beaming smile, pretending to be overjoyed, and crushed his fingers in between hers.
She heard the sickening snap of his pinky and his pointer finger. She watched as his face contorted, a small gasp escaping his lips as he realized what had just transpired. She smiled even wider than before, dimples pressing themselves deep within her cheeks. "How about a little longer, what do you say James?"
Her feet were quick to move after that, she scurried past the both of them, shoulder-checking Sebastian on the way out, and ran.
"HEY!" He heckled after.
"Just be thankful I did it at the hospital!" She yelled back, a hand cupping her mouth as the wind blew her hair around her fast.
She tightened the straps of her backpack around her as she ran. She hated running at a human-speed, but luckily the town was buzzing with enough activity that nobody questioned it too much.
She could hear them running, James letting out small whining noises and whimpers every so often. She lost them for a moment after watching them get caught at a red light at a busy intersection, but they caught up to her when she was encircled by a group of church singers that wouldn't move off of the sidewalk no matter how much she pushed. She eventually got through them, stopping oncoming traffic as she merged onto the road. The commotion and the loss of time allowed them to gain a few seconds on her.
She had to hide; she had to drive them away somehow. She needed somewhere to veil herself from them, and darting into a grocery store with a wall of transparent windows wasn't going to work.
She groaned, running a hand through her curly hair as her feet plodded against cracked pavement. The clicking of their dress shoes wasn't far rear.
She rounded a corner, and saw her escape.
Instead of somewhere, maybe she just needed someone.
She saw an older teen exit the florist with a bouquet of flowers in hand, and ran straight towards him. He was fiddling with change, and perked up when he heard the light thumps of her black sneakers.
He was an attractive gentleman with his hair in messy waves and a casual style to him.
She slowed herself a little too late, almost running into him.
"Hey!" She panted, placing a hand beside him on the brick wall, cornering him against her and the barricade. She heaved breaths of hair, and watched as the teen with wild hair shot her an odd and flustered look.
"Um—"
"What's your name?" She wheezed, cutting him off as she closed the gap between them. Her eyes anxiously scrutinized the corner of the building, a few yards from where they were. She could hear them nearing, and her face whipped back to focus on the boy.
"I-Uh—" he stammering, fiddling with the plastic wrap of the flowers as he spoke. "It's… umm. It's Ste—"
She cut him off with her lips, pressing them firmly to his and grabbing the back of his neck with her free hand. She cupped the back of his head, pulling him closer. She could hear the two hunters pass by her, cursing as she made out with the cute younger by between her lips. She decided to relish in the moment a little bit longer, considering he wasn't resisting, and locked her lips tighter to his.
He kissed back after a few seconds of being stunned. They let out small squeaks when their lips parted and re-clasped. His lips molded with hers, and she surprisingly enjoyed the encounter, but she wasn't here to make out. She was here to hide until she could see Eleven again.
She backed up from the wall, wiping her lips with the back off her hand as she unlatched from him.
He stared at her bug-eyed, flowers now dropped on the floor from the previous state of affairs. His lips were parted, breathing light but hasty breath's as he cocked a brow. He blushed a dark pink and pushed his volumized hair back with one hand.
He looked practically limp, besides having his back pressed against the bricks to keep him vertical. He also appeared extremely confused… but extremely overjoyed as well.
"Thanks!" She dismissed cheerily, giving him a light pat on the cheek as she fast-walked in the other direction.
"WOAH, woah… woah. Wait!" He sprinted after her, crushed flowers in hand. "Who are you!? And what the—the hell! Just happened?"
She threw up a peace sign, not bothering to turn around, and darted around the corner. She slowed to a steady walk, praying that the coast was clear, and decided to head back to the library to hide out for a while.
She assumed the boy had left, but he was persistent in figuring out her identity. He grabbed her wrist, stopping her in her tracks, and she frowned. Normally she'd kick someone's ass if they put their hands on her, but he was particularly adorable compared to most men (plus she had just made out with him without his sanction).
"Are you serious?" He hissed, his brows rising. "You just smacked your lips against mine, and you're all cranky because I grabbed your wrist?"
She shrugged, "Yeah, touché Elvis." She nodded towards his perfectly styled hair.
He grumbled at that, and groaned even more as she pivoted away from him.
He trotted up to her, attempting to keep up with her high-paced stride. "What the hell just—"
"You're cute, I'm cute, what's the problem Farah?" She gave him a questionable look, trying to slow down as she walked. He would make a good camouflage from the Winchester's.
"Stop calling me that," His brows fell, "You better hope nobody saw that."
"What?" She questioned, "Us makin' out?" She teased as she raised her eyebrows up and down repeatedly, "Because you seemed to enjoy it lover boy."
His eyes grew wide as his chiseled jawline compressed, and he stopped her with the bouquet. She paused, snorting at the gesture, and waited for him to speak.
"I…." He closed his mouth again, not bothering to disagree. The boy smelt like cheap cologne and under that she sniffed out a bit of sweetness; like candy. He smelt mouth-watering. Almost better than the blood bag's in her backpack, which she clutched tighter as she stood next to the naive human.
"Perhaps your hesitation has something to do with the roses in your hand?" She asked, pert smirk o her face as she pushed past him, continuing their walk.
"Yeah—Nancy's never gonna freakin' want me back if she hears that some girl was all over me at the front of Hawkins' florist.
She rolled her eyes at the mention of his large ego, although she was kind of all over him.
"So you're saying you didn't enjoy it?" She teased, walking ahead of him with wide steps.
"No!" He answered a little too hastily, "No. It was good. Great. In fact, really great. But—"
"Mhm," She shrugged him off, jay walking across the street. To her revelation, he trailed after her.
"Wait! Stop, wait," His hands lightly brushed her shoulder. "God, stop walking so fast. What's your name?"
She exhaled deeply, letting her cheeks fill with her then sputter out. "Elizabeth Green." She had that feeling of comfort, the one she felt when she met Hopper and Eleven. She didn't quite trust him enough to tell him her real name, though. She settled for the most innocent alias she had previously used with Mrs. Byers.
He spun her around, causing her to stop her quest to wherever she was going, and held his free hand. "Steve Harrington."
She gave him a polite smile, and took his hand, shaking it.
"Pleasure to meet you," She made a face, "and your lips."
"Yeah, ditto. Whatever." He shook his head, waves of golden locks cascading around his face. "Are you new?"
She let out a soft chortle of amusement. "Is this town really that small?"
He shot her an incredulous look, shifting his weight as he waited for her response.
She sighed, "Friend of Jim Hopper, heard of him?"
His head darted forward, both brow's raising, "Chief Jim Hopper? How do you know Hopper?"
She shrugged, "Friend of my mom's from a while back." She crossed her arms over her chest. "That's not important, though. Your girl, Nadine—"
"Nancy," he corrected, "Nancy Wheeler."
She almost choked.
"What? What is it? What did I say?" red rushed to his face again as his stance widened.
Information started gyrating threw her mind, ideas and plans. Maybe she could talk to Hop… work things out. She could get to him somehow through the Harrington kid. She would see the Wheeler's, find her way to Mike, who would get to Will, and from there it would be easy. She didn't want to just show up at the cabin again.
She just longed to see the both of them, and it had only been two freaking days!
"Nothing," She shook her head, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear "Hey, how's about we go for a quick coffee? I could use a friend in this town." She gave him a polite grin, "Tell me a bit more about your Nancy. I'm not trying to toot my own horn; but I've had my fair share of relationships, maybe I can give advice where due."
He shot her an odd look, trying to hide his smile. He exhaled quickly through his nostrils, and allowed the smile to grow. His heart stuttered a few beats, and she could sense the chemo signals of attraction radiating off of him. She was toying with them a little, which she felt a tad guilty for, but nothing worth beating herself up for.
To be honest, she could use another friend in this town.
His face softened, and he nodded towards the diner a few blocks up. "Yeah, come on, what the hell."
A/N: This ain't gonna be no love story, I just think a bit of innocent flirting is fun. Maybe in the sequel, when ST3 comes out. Please read and review! They really push me to write, although I love writing none the less.
lyona5: Thank you so much! Binge reading a story is the best. I'll try to get new chapters out asap. That's exactly what I was going for, by the way.
Gamby004: This review made me so happy! Thank you for your continuous reviews.
Lady Jensen: Okay I definitely considered making her older to do something like this... But I decided to make her younger because I love Jopper way too much.