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lately he's started redecorating bit by bit; no longer does his bedroom feel like a museum of his lonely childhood, but more like a sanctuary for his current state of mind. steve has chrissy to thank for this, too.

watching  steve  wake  up  happy  makes  everything  so  very  worth  it,  chrissy  smiling  softly  as  she  watches  him  devour  his  breakfast.  she  stays  glued  to  his  side. 

the next day is the polar opposite. every minute drags on as if by design to drive steve crazy, the agreed upon time seemingly eons away. only when he's pulling up to the curb of the cunningham residence at 6:50 does he begin to feel the reality of the situation sink in. his heart thumps in his chest with each step towards the door.

the  doorbell  goes  off  and  chrissy  hesitates  for  three  seconds  before  she  opens  it.  like  she  wasn't  waiting  on  the  other  side.

the harringtons are more like roommates at this stage in life— roommates who see each other once in a blue moon and communicate via post-it notes on the fridge and passive aggressive text messages in the family group chat. steve mostly has his father to thank for this consistent neglect; a product of the patriarch's cheating and his mother's unwillingness to either divorce or trust her husband again.

"happy  birthday  steve,"  she  whispers  once  she  pulls  back,  brushing  their  noses  together.  chrissy  is  perfectly  happy  where  she  is,  hands  sliding  down  to  rest  on  steve's  chest  as  she  bends  her  elbows,  chin  settling  on  his  chest  as  she  smiles.  "i  made  you  breakfast,"  she  continues  softly.

𝘪'𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘶 𝘶𝘱 @ 7 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧

he already has an outfit in mind as they swap texts. his best-fitting jeans perhaps, newest shoes, a maroon sweater that softens his features.

she  feels  nervous  and  excited  all  at  once,  biting  her  lip  as  she  tries  not  to  feel  too  giddy  over  steve's  text.  she  fails. heart  reacting  to  their  plans,  chrissy  feels  something  she  hadn't  felt  for  a  very  long  time.  hope.

𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 🙈 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳, 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘤𝘰𝘮, 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 ?

he sends chrissy the link to the cinema showtimes, unable to stop smiling at the fact that he has something to look forward to. it's been so long since he's had a legitimate reason to look his best.

the  first  text  was  sent  before  she  even  thought  about  it,  the  second  following  right  after.  she  pulls  up  the  showtimes  steve  sent  her,  scrolling  through  them  before  pulling  back  up  their  text  thread.

she  sends  a  couple  time  options  for  weapons  back  to  steve,  a  movie  she  had  wanted  to  see  —  one  she  had  practically  begged  jason  to  take  her  to . . .  only  for  him  to  bitch  about  how  lame  it  sounded  and  pick  something  else.

chrissy deserves better.

❛ i don't mind dealing with it, ❜ steve says earnestly, and there's nothing in his tone that implies he's stating this just to make chrissy feel better. after the shock of seeing yet another person from hawkins turn up in los angeles had worn off, jason had been nothing more than a mild nuisance.

"he  was  kinda  scared  of  you  in  high  school,"  chrissy  says,  unbeknownst  to  steve's  own  thoughts,  "or  maybe  intimidated?  you  were  so  cool  and  he  wanted  everyone  to  like  him  as  much  as  they  liked  you."

she  remembers  the  look  on  jason's  face  when  he  had  bullied  his  way  into  eddie's  apartment  onto  to  see  a  confused  steve,  the  bewilderment  turning  to  nervousness  the  second  he  had  stepped  up.

jason  was  always  kinda  a  coward.

julian stands then, dusting off the seat of his pants with a hand and making sure he has all his things with the other. his half-empty slushie cup remains on the pavement. the way people stare at him disapprovingly in this place has already cemented an eternal beef, so he figures he can make an exception when it comes to littering.

more so when chrissy mentions jason bullying eddie.

she  nods.

"i  don't  want  eddie  to  be  mad  i  told  you,"  even  though  she's  never  seen  eddie  mad  a  day  in  his  life.  "but  it's  not  fair  to  him.  no  one  ever  takes  his  side."

maybe  it's  a  little  unfair  to  jason,  having  no  idea  what's  coming  for  him,  but  when  they  arrive  and  get  seated  chrissy  pulls  out  her  phone  and  shows  julian  the  lock  screen,  unfortunately  it's  still  of  her  and  jason.

this is undoubtedly the part where he'll be tossed out onto the sidewalk, forced to sneak in through the window next time he wants to see chrissy, but no such action follows. steve looks up at the blonde in confusion after the door clicks shut behind her.

she  flushes  instantly,  wringing  her  hands  together  as  she  tries  to  pull  together  words.

their current options are limited, what with hawkins being so small that not many places operate past nine, but on the outskirts like they are now, he knows there's at least one diner a few miles down the road that doesn't close until eleven.

but she also may have hinted she might stay over at her friend jules'. if her mom thinks jules is a girl, well . . .

"pancakes  do  sound  really  good,"  she  says  with  a  smile  back,  blue  eyes  sparkling  still  from  the  high  of  their  first  kiss.  she  wants  to  kiss  him  again  and  again  and  again.  later,  she  tells  herself,  biting  her  lip  as  she  leans  back  in  her  seat.

steve's  hopeful  gaze  isn't  lost  on  her,  if  anything  it  emboldens  her  to  act  on  her  own  feelings.  no  fear  in  being  seen  as  too  much.

following chrissy's gaze to her nailbeds, julian wrinkles his nose, though it's more out of concern than disgust. the comment about out-of-state colleges piques his interest immediately.

"a  fart?"  she  says  instead,  rolling  her  eyes  in  amusement.  she  tries  to  act  normal  when  jules  takes  her  hand  and  holds  it  up,  chrissy  not  daring  to  breath  until  he  speaks.

there  is  no  accusations,  only  friendship  offered  and  it  makes  her  relax  again,  giving  a  small  nod  of  her  blonde  head  in  answer.  ".  .  .  are  they  special  brownies  or  just  brownies?”

𝘪’𝘮 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘬? 𝘪’𝘮 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸

there is an evil voice in the back of his head that tells him this — whatever he’s attempting to do — can only end in tears. it is a defeating thought to process, but steve tries his best to push it way down. he’s been at rock bottom before, what with his endless doctor visits and unrelenting reminders of what he and his friends have gone through in the past three years alone.

what else does he possibly have to lose?

it  took  all  of  two  sentences  for  steve  to  turn  chrissy  into  a  blushing  mess.

thank  you you  always  look  really  handsome  too i  can't  wait  for  our  date