Sadie eyes her sleeping four year old daughter in the passenger seat for what feels like the hundredth time, once again questioning if she is making the right choice. The two of them have been driving for hours, not daring to stop once they left the outskirts of Atlanta behind. And although a part of her knows it is foolish, she seems to have taken the route home on instinct, the familiar sign still scrawled with Welcome To Hell as the car coasts past, and she realizes there is no feasible way to turn back, now.
The car is dangerously low on fuel. She is exhausted. Hungry. Terrified.
She needs to stop. To regroup. To think of what on earth she is going to do next.
A part of her hopes that the instinct bringing her back home is correct. That Hawkins is the very last place anyone would expect her to be. The very last place they would look.
Sadie honestly doesn't have a clue what she is going to do if she is wrong.
Flexing her fingers around the steering wheel in an attempt to relieve some of the tension that is reverberating through her, Sadie takes the familiar turns that will lead her to the one place she knows without a doubt she can rest, at least temporarily. She doesn't want to drag anyone else into her problems, but she can't exactly force her daughter to endure a night spent sleeping in the cramped quarters of the car.
No matter how hard she tries, Sadie can hear the words given to her years ago, under the guise of a singular, parting embrace…
"Listen, I know there's something you're not telling me. So if you—if you need anything, just—just find me. Okay?"
It was when she had come home after her parents sold their house, unable to continue living in a town where their daughter was already miles away, and their son had landed himself in jail for aggravated assault. She knew even then that it would piss Andy off, but she made a point of seeing Steve anyway, missing the comfort of old friendships more than she cared to admit.
Even with all of her careful attempts to make the visit seem casual—two old friends, catching up—Sadie knew Steve had seen right through her, and although she never said anything in response to the assurance he provided, she is well aware that he meant every word.
Another look at her daughter steels Sadie against the rest of her nerves, and she is able to make the rest of the drive to the familiar two-story house in relative ease, pulling to a stop and cutting the engine not long after coasting into the driveway. For a moment, she worries Steve will not be home, amusement pulling at the corners of her mouth in spite of the seriousness of the situation as she recalls it is Friday night, and the odds of Steve Harrington sitting alone at home will likely be slim to none.
But she sees the light shining from what she remembers to be the living room window. The shadow of a figure moving to sit where she thinks the couch might be, unless he moved it since the last time she was here.
Whether Steve is alone or not, he is apparently at home, and Sadie spares one final moment to take a trembling breath before reaching over to brush a stray curl away from her daughter's brow, the sleepy moan she earns in response provoking a soft smile as she gets out of the driver's seat and ensures the door is securely locked behind her before heading toward Steve Harrington's front door.
She hopes she isn't somehow wrong about what he said. That turning up unannounced on his doorstep isn't a colossal mistake.
Sadie hates the idea of what Andy might do if her thoughts of where he might look for her first are wrong, and he does happen to find her here, but more than that she hates the idea of what she will do if Steve decides to turn her away.
…
Some time later, Sadie watches as her daughter digs into a bowl of SpaghettiOs at Steve's dining room table, her own hands encircling a bottle of beer that she has yet to touch. She is waiting for him to start asking questions. She knows he's seen the barely concealed bruise healing just beneath her left eye. But surprisingly, Steve keeps his silence, drinking his own beer, and clearly waiting for Sadie to be the first one to speak, herself.
"Are you—are you sure this is alright?" She asks, her fingers starting to pick at the label of the bottle clutched between her hands, the answering look on Steve's face causing her to flush a bit before he finally manages a reply.
"Sadie if it wasn't alright, I wouldn't have let the two of you inside."
"Oh. I—right."
"Besides, what kind of grade A ass—uh—jerk would I be if I let a four year old spend the night in a car?" Steve presses, risking a covert look towards the little girl still happily engrossed in her dinner, such as it was, before turning back to Sadie and managing an apologetic wince for the almost-slip up not long after, "That's not me."
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it. I uh—I mean you can probably already see I wasn't exactly doing much of anything important, so—"
"So you took us in out of boredom."
"Sadie—"
"No, it's okay. I mean that's what I live for. Providing quality entertainment," Sadie teases, one corner of her mouth twitching up into a grin as Steve eyes her from across the table with an expression that is nothing short of surprised. He allows a choked laugh to break free not long after, one hand dragging through his hair in a clear show of a sudden case of nerves.
Sadie isn't quite sure how she came to be so good at reading Steve Harrington. Maybe even just as good as he is at reading her. But as she continues to watch him, her half-smile fades, her hand finally lifting the bottle of beer to her lips so that she can take a steadying sip before speaking again.
"Steve?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you—are you okay?"
"I think that's a question I should be asking you," Steve counters, scratching in what Sadie is sure is meant to be a surreptitious gesture at the unblemished skin beneath his own eye, his gaze flicking to her bruise before he can stand any chance to stop it, "I mean you kind of gave everyone the impression you were never coming back after your parents sold their house."
"I never—I never wanted to, Steve."
"Then why are you here? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm flattered by the company, but—"
"I just—I think it might be better if we didn't talk about it right now."
Steve isn't exactly making a secret of his reluctance to let the matter drop, but he does follow Sadie's gaze to her daughter, and remains silent whether he truly wants to or not, the sudden attention causing the little girl to look up from her SpaghettiOs with the spoon halfway to her mouth. Smiling gently, Sadie reaches over to run a comforting hand against her daughter's arm, allowing her to return to eating in next to no time at all. And, before she can stop herself, she is turning back to Steve, her expression hesitant to say the least.
"We won't—we won't be in your way for long—"
"No. No, stop that. You're staying for as long as you need," Steve insists, the strength behind the words bringing a lump to Sadie's throat that she almost immediately tries to dislodge, "You uh—did you, you know—bring anything, or—"
"We packed some things."
"Okay. So I can just—"
"I'll get them," Sadie interjects, moving to stand from the table, the beer now long since forgotten as she leans over to smooth back the wild flyaway curls from her daughter's forehead, and stoops to drop a kiss against her brow, "Stay here with your Uncle Steve, okay, baby girl?"
"Uncle—Uncle Steve," Their would-be host repeats, aware of the angelic smile Sadie sends his way before she turns to head back to the front door. He isn't exactly sure how he feels about the title, his gaze shifting back to the little girl—Chrissy, Sadie had told him—and sends her a tentative smile. The blinding, toothy grin that greets him in response melts his resolve in seconds, though, much as he suspected it would all along. And as the little girl tucks back in to the remainder of her meal, Steve finds himself wondering what on earth could be so bad that it forced Sadie to take her daughter and head back to Hawkins…
She may not be saying it in so many words, but he would bet his next paycheck that her sudden appearance on his doorstep has something to do with Andy, the memory of the bruise lingering beneath Sadie's eye causing Steve's jaw to tighten as he resolves to do whatever he can to ensure she and her little girl are safe as long as they are with him.
Maybe, if he's lucky, she'll find some reason to seek out the remainder of their friends during the course of her stay, because Steve isn't quite so foolish to think he's the first person she would go to if she needed to talk…
They were close, sure. But not that close.
If they were, then Sadie would be telling him everything she was running from, rather than regarding him with a fraction of a smile as she steps back inside with a duffel bag slung over her shoulder, her expression clearly showing she is putting everything she has into keeping up appearances. Into making him believe nothing is wrong.
Into getting Steve to think she is just home for a visit. A reason that is simple, when he knows the truth is anything but.
…
Alright, so…yeah. I probably shouldn't even be giving this little plot bunny the time of day, but it slammed its way into my brain last night, and I haven't been able to shake it ever since. Basically, what I'm going for, here, is an AU sort of set up where the Hawkins gang are all adults, off living their own lives. Given my current Eddie/Sadie obsession, that pairing still remains very much the same (though we have a bit before we get there). But I do have one question I want to ask of you, my darling readers, as far as some of the background of this story, that way I can piece together the details of whatever you think is best along the way.
The question is as follows. Do I keep this completely AU, leaving out everything about the Upside Down, Vecna, Demogorgons, etc? Or do I have the basic premise of that other world coming back to threaten our gang in addition to the drama Sadie will eventually bring back to Hawkins with her? I'm honestly open to either way, so I figured I'd leave it up to you to decide!
As always, I thank each and every one of you for taking the time to give this story a shot! I hope that you found at least something you enjoyed? And I would be very happy to see what you think!
Until next time, my loves…
MOMM
