pairing: steve harrington x henderson!original character
summary: through a collection of songs and a newfound friendship, jenny henderson’s story with the upside down unravels.
warnings: tooth-rotting fluff, season 3 au (mainly)
a/n: i hope you enjoy! jenny is very special to me, i’m very excited for you to get to know her too. <3
In My Room - The Beach Boys
June 30, 1985. 12:30 P.M.
“SURPRISE! Welcome home, Dustin!”
A cacophony of chatter fills the Henderson home, greeting the curly haired boy’s arrival back from science camp. Mrs. Henderson planned everything, with a little help from Jenny and Max. Together, they got the rest of the party to come over. Jenny baked a plethora of deserts, bought chips and soda, and hung up a colorful sign and streamers. He deserves the best homecoming possible.
“You guys scared the shit out of me!” Dustin grins toothily, slinging an arm around Lucas.
“We’ve been bored out of our minds waiting for you. Who could pass up an opportunity for free food?” Lucas jokes.
Will beams up at his friend. “I’m so excited you’re home!”
Eleven places her hands on Dustin’s shoulders. “I’ve missed my friend.”
“I have so much to tell you guys. This camp was insane.”
Mike jumps up and down. “Did you end up meeting a girl?”
At this question, Dustin’s smile grows larger. The three boys immediately begin prodding him with questions. Eleven stands back quietly with a smile. Max turns to Jenny, rolling her eyes.
“You’d think he found the cure to cancer.”
She laughs. “I’m honestly happy for him. That’s all he could talk about for weeks.”
“What I want to know is how on earth did that idiot win somebody over.” Max says through a smile.
“Alright kids, I laid out the table. Deserts and soda await you!” Mrs. Henderson says, attempting to transition the group into the dining room.
“I have to go see Steve and tell him everything.” Dustin states. The rest of the boys frantically nod along in agreement.
Eleven’s face falls. “But what about the cookies and cupcakes?”
“Steve has ice cream, El! It’s hot outside.” Mike says, reaching out to squeeze her hand.
“You just got here, Dusty!” Mrs. Henderson pipes up from the kitchen.
“Mo-om! I promised Steve I’d see him first thing when I got back.” Dustin groans.
Jenny frowns. “If you think I’m driving, there isn’t enough room in my car for all of you.”
“I can sit on somebody’s lap.” Mike volunteers.
Lucas scurries over to the door, beginning to put on his sneakers. “Great! Let’s go.”
“I call shotgun!” Will exclaims.
Max holds up her hands. “Woah, there is no way I’m stuck sitting in the backseat next to the rest of these idiots.”
Jenny rubs her temples. “I didn’t say I’m driving you guys! What are you doing?”
Mrs. Henderson walks out from the kitchen, laughing to herself at the chaos. “Kids, I can drive. Dusty, I’ll drop you and the boys off at the mall to see Steve. Jenny, you can stay with the girls. If you guys want to go, you can drive them later.”
Dustin and Mike high-five. “Dude, Steve is gonna be so proud of you.”
Dustin crosses his arms. “Oh, I know buddy. He won’t even believe it.”
The boys all get their shoes on and hurry out the door, Mrs. Henderson following behind them, shutting the door behind her. “Call if you girls need anything. I’ll be home soon.”
Jenny and the girls sit down in the dining room, each having a glass of the soda along with some of the treats.
Max looks over at the record player. “Ooh! Put something on!”
El nods. “Music is nice.”
“Sure!” Jenny walks up to her record collection, sifting through the vinyls. “Any requests?”
Max gets up from her seat, joining Jenny at the player. They both sift through the records, pulling out different vinyls and checking the song list. Max then eagerly pulls one up out of the box: The Beach Boys’ Surfer Girl.
“This is a great one! Can you play ‘In My Room’?”
Jenny smiles. “That one’s my favorite.”
She takes out the record from the case, popping it in the vinyl. Max picks up the tonearm, carefully lowering the needle onto the specific part of the disk. The warm sounds of the song fill up the dining room. El smiles, swaying along to the music.
Max sits back down, taking a bite out of her cookie. “Dustin didn’t tell me you were cool. I love Billy’s records, he never lets me touch them.”
Jenny laughs. “I love collecting them. I always check out the record store every Thursday afternoon. That’s when the new shipments come in.”
Max picks up the album cover. “Where’d you get this one? This is an older album.”
“Steve gave me that one.”
Max snaps her head towards Jenny. “Wait, as in Harrington?”
Max and El share a look. “Wow. I thought he was a complete asshole.”
Jenny’s cheeks turn pink. “He has his moments. But, he knows I love collecting. He surprised me with it the other day.”
Max grins. “I want to hear this story.”
Sitting on the couch mindlessly watching a Cheers rerun, Jenny hears the doorbell ring.
Who could be here? Jenny thinks to herself. Robin’s at work, Dustin’s friends would have no reason to come around. Nonetheless, she heads to the door. Opening it up, she’s met with Steve, who has a brown bag in his hand. He holds up his hand in a wave.
He kicks his sneaker on the ground. “Haven’t seen you at Scoops in a few days. I was worried you fell off the face of the earth.”
“I do work too, you know,” Jenny grins, twirling a piece of her hair. “Scoops is Dustin territory, anyway.”
He brushes a loose piece of hair out of his face. “Well, I like seeing you there too.”
“What are you doing here?”
He shrugs. “I was wondering if you’d want to hang out. No pressure. I do have a gift, though.”
Jenny raises an eyebrow. “You think bribery is gonna work on me?”
Jenny steps aside, letting Steve walk in. His prescence at the Henderson house is far from unusual. In the past year, Jenny grew accustomed to seeing him sat on the couch for a movie night with Dustin, or hanging out with the rest of the kids. She’s even joined them a couple of those times. Jenny and Steve have never hung out one-on-one, though. Robin or Dustin have served as buffer points.
“You know, I do like your company, Henderson.” Steve says, standing in front of Jenny.
“You’re not too bad yourself, Harrington.”
The two of them walk into the living room, sitting on opposite ends of the couch. Steve pulls two bottles of Coke out of the brown bag. Opening one of them, he passes it over to Jenny. He opens the other one, taking a swig.
“Has Dustin called you at all?”
Jenny frowns. “Not much. He called once to tell me about some cool contraption another kid built.”
“You’ve gotten a call and not me? That’s just unfair.”
Jenny winks, taking a sip of her Coke. “Sister privileges.”
“You’re that kid’s whole world, you know that?” Steve says, crossing his right leg over his left knee.
“I don’t even want to know the stories he tells you.”
Steve holds up his hands. “No, seriously. He talks about you all the time. I’ve never seen somebody love their sibling that much.”
Jenny sips from her bottle. “That’s sweet.”
“He told me you collect vinyl records?”
She nods excitedly. “That collection is everything to me. A ton of them are our mom’s from when she was growing up.”
“I have a player at home, too. Probably not as many records as you, but I spin a few.”
Jenny turns so her body completely faces Steve. “No way! Do you have a favorite?”
“Probably Sports. Huey Louis & The News.”
Jenny nods in approval. “Good choice.”
Steve sets down his bottle. “I also really like The Beach Boys. They make up a majority of my collection.”
“Now you’re talking. They’re my favorites.”
Steve reaches into the brown bag, pulling out a record. Jenny’s green eyes turn into saucers. Surfer Girl.
“No way! I’ve been wanting this vinyl forever. How did you get this?”
Shrugging, Steve heads towards Jenny’s record player. “I have my ways.”
The sweet sounds of the first track envelop the room. Jenny hugs her knees to herself. “I always thought The Beach Boys felt like a warm hug.”
Steve laughs a little. “That’s dorky.”
“Is not! They remind me of my dad.” Jenny shakes her head, her freshly curled hair bouncing up and down.
“I can’t tell if that’s even dorkier than what you just said.” Steve teases, earning a pillow tossed in his direction.
“When I was little, my dad would play them and dance with me. It’s my earliest memory.”
Steve takes a sip from his Coke. “I’ve noticed head Henderson hasn’t been around. Dustin’s never told me much about him.”
Jenny sighs. “There isn’t much to tell. He’s an asshole. He cheated on my mom with his receptionist.”
“Oh, Henderson, I’m sorry. That sucks.”
“I was little, so I didn’t understand a whole ton of it. They argued a lot, he moved to Chicago a year after it went down. Dustin was a baby, so he doesn’t remember any of it.” Jenny smiles thinly.
“Do you see him anymore?”
Jenny fidgets with her scrunchie. “No, not really at least. He tries to contact me. Dustin really doesn’t want anything to do with him.”
“How’s your mom doing about it?”
“Surprisingly fine, from what I can see. She’s always had a really positive attitude. She does whatever she can to protect Dustin and I. She loves hard, protects harder.”
“Yeah, she’s pretty fierce.” Steve grins shyly. “I like your mom. Probably the nicest mom out of any friend I’ve had.”
Looking up from her scrunchie, Jenny meets Steve’s eyes. “Really? That’s sweet.”
“Yeah. She always offers that I stay for dinner. Gives me a big hug. Her new thing is fixing the collar of my shirt and my hair.” Steve says, making a face at the last part.
“Oh yeah,” Jenny sits up straighter, a wide smile on her face. “She’s been trying to figure out where Dustin got that Farah Fawcett can from. He has her convinced he stole it from Nancy’s room.”
Steve lets out a loud laugh. “No way. I can’t believe he hasn’t cracked yet. He’s been holding that above my head whenever he gets the chance.”
Jenny stands up. “You hungry?”
“I could go for a bite. What’s in stock?”
Disappearing to the kitchen, Steve hears the rustling of Jenny digging through her pantry. “Now I feel bad, Jenny. I don’t want to take your entire stock.”
“Don’t be silly,” she responds from the kitchen. “I heard your stomach growling earlier. It was loud, I felt bad.”
She returns, bringing in two bigger bags of chips, and a plate of cookies. “I baked these yesterday.”
Steve grabs a cookie. “Did you use M&M’s instead of chocolate chips?”
Jenny also grabs a cookie, taking a bite. “It’s my specialty.”
Together, the two sit in the living room, eating snacks and sharing stories. Steve swears he’s never seen Jenny talk this much. He’s unlocked a completely new side of her, the redhead excitedly spurting off story after story. He doesn’t mind it, though. The way she tells a story leaves him wanting more, no matter what she talks about.
Jenny squeals at the new track’s transition. Steve jumps, making the both of them laugh. “Jesus.”
Jenny smiles guiltily. “Sorry. This song is my favorite.”
Steve listens. In My Room. “This is a nice one. Really warm.”
“Now you get it.” Jenny smiles.
Steve turns to say something back, but his mind goes blank. For some reason, something clicks in his head. It’s like he’s seeing Jenny in a completely different light for the first time. Until this moment, he’s never noticed how the apples of her cheeks glow pink. How her eyes aren’t brown; they have flecks of green in them. Something about her hair even shines brighter.
“Cat got your tongue, Harrington?” She teases, sticking out her tongue.
Steve snaps out of his state. “Oh, yeah. That song had me in a trance.”
The room goes silent, the mellow melodies of the boys fading to a close. Steve stands up, heading to put the record away.
“I’ll be asking you to borrow that, by the way.” Jenny says, following Steve to the record player.
“Well, you won’t need to do that.” Jenny looks at him, confused.
Steve puts away the record, handing Jenny the album. “It’s for you, Henderson. Call it a gift for always being on my side this summer.” He says, lips quirking into a grin.
Jenny looks between Steve and the record, like she can’t believe he’s giving her such a thing. She breaks out into the biggest smile he’s seen all day.
“Thank you, Steve.” Jenny says softly. Her eyes don’t leave his for a moment.
That’s when Steve knew he was completely and utterly done for.
Max’s jaw is completely agape. Eleven is smiling so big it goes to her eyes.
“So, yeah. That’s the story.” Jenny finishes bashfully.
Max turns to Eleven. “This is worse than Nancy, holy shit.”
“What are you talking about?”
Max gawks back at Jenny as if she couldn’t believe what she heard. “Are you serious? He likes you.”
Jenny laughs nervously. “Please. He was just doing something nice. I think he still has a thing for Nance, if anything.”
Eleven frowns. “But you’re nice. And very pretty.”
You squeeze the brunette’s shoulder. “And so are you.”
“Is it impossible that Steve Harrington may have a crush on you?” Max asks.
Jenny looks down at the table. It isn’t unlikely. Steve has become a consistent character in her life as of late. And she knew she’d be lying to herself if she denied any sort of feelings for the guy. “I don’t want to weird Dustin out. He thinks Steve is the second coming of Christ. It would be a weird collision of worlds for him.”
Max offered a silent groan. “I can guarantee you that you mean more to that moron than ‘The Hair’. He’d be thrilled his two favorite people are together.”
Jenny stays silent, looking over at the record player. Where the gift from Steve sits prettily, waiting to be listened to again.
Eleven stands up, walking in front of Jenny. “I want ice cream. And you can see Steve.” She says, matter of fact.
“He can’t miss you in this cute outfit.” Max agrees.
Jenny laughs. “Dustin’ll want all of us to hang out. Let’s go.”
The two girls get up, excitedly heading to the car. “Great! And you’ll get to see your boyfriend.” Max teases, poking Jenny’s side.
Jenny lightly pokes Max back. “He isn’t my boyfriend.”
Though, she can’t deny that Steve as a boyfriend has a nice ring to it.
