EMMA

The night of November 12th, 1983, or maybe it was the early hours of November 13th, your friend Will Byers had finally been found after spending a week trapped in a dark, alternate dimension you and your friends had dubbed ‘The Upside Down’.

You were 13 now, the oldest of the party (beating Lucas by a whole 4 months), and Steve was 17.

After you had spent the night chased by government agents, and evil scientists and literal monsters, and after you had watched your new friend Eleven – El – die.

You and your friends had been cramped into the hospital waiting room, hoping to see Will when he woke up. Lucas and Dustin had been passed out, leaning on each other, and your head was on Dustin’s shoulder as you slept too.

Steve Harrington was also in the waiting room, sitting between a snoring Ted Wheeler and the door. His face was bloody and bruised as he stared at a blank spot on the floor ahead of him.

At this point in time, you didn’t know Steve. You knew of him, that he was a douchebag high schooler, that people called him ‘King Steve’, and that he was dating your friend Mike’s older sister, Nancy.

That night is when you think you met Steve Harrington for the first time.

You didn’t see him very often after that, maybe a few times at the Wheeler household when he was hanging out with Nancy and you were there to play D&D in the basement with your friends, sometimes you’d both be seated at the dinner table, but that was about it.

You didn’t really care about Steve then, he was just some guy – an asshole – who was dating Nancy, and nothing else.

That is, until the beginning of November, 1984. Just days after Halloween, after meeting Max Mayfield for the first time, and after Will’s episode on the field at the school.

You’ve always been closer with Dustin and Lucas than you have been to Mike and Will. In fact, out of all of them, you always considered Dustin to be your best friend.

That might be why you answered his code red that morning, while Lucas went out to try and recruit Max, the new girl, into your party. You were all for Max joining your party, you thought she was cool, and it would’ve been nice to have another girl around.

You ended up helping Dustin scrub blood out of the shag carpet in his bedroom, and helped him bury his now-dead cat after Dart, the slug-like creature Dustin had found in his trash, had turned out to be a baby Demogorgon.

Nobody else was answering the call, so you and Dustin headed to the Wheeler house to try and find Mike, or maybe even Nancy, but neither of them were home.

And when the two of you turned away from the front door to head back to your bikes, Dustin muttering obscenities under his breath, you watched a familiar BMW pull up outside the house.

Enter Steve Harrington. Again.

A bouquet of roses in one hand, running the other through his perfectly styled hair, now walking across the Wheelers’ front lawn and towards the door.

Was it fate? No, just convenient timing, but the next night your perception of Steve Harrington would entirely change for the rest of your life.

You had watched him walk down the steps to Dustin’s cellar, nail bat gripped in his hands, and your first thought was that you hadn’t realized how brave Steve Harrington actually was.

And the next day you had followed him down a set of old rail road tracks, dropping chunks of raw meat onto the ground and listening to him giving Dustin horrible advice on girls. At one point, he had even turned back and asked for your opinion, only for you to totally disagree with what he was saying, but he brushed you off like it was nothing.

Soon, once Lucas and Max had joined you in the junkyard, the five of you set up an old bus as your base of operations, and after that you were hiding inside.

Lucas and Max were up on the roof, keeping watch, Dustin was pacing angrily; he was mad about Lucas telling Max everything and letting her tag along, and you were sitting on one of the old bus seats with your arms crossed to your chest, watching Steve flick his lighter open and closed.

He was cool, you could admit that now. Sure, he still seemed like a douchebag, but after spending literally all day with him, you had come to find Steve wasn’t as bad as you had thought.

And he was kind of… cute. He had nice eyes, and a nice nose, and the moles littering his face were just the cherry on top. And not to mention his ridiculous, but somehow attractive hair that you had recently learned he styled with Farrah Fawcett’s hairspray. Plus, he was charming.

He looked up at you, catching you staring, and gave you a smile. Your eyes darted down immediately, face heating up quickly out of embarrassment of being caught.

“You good over there, kid?” He asked, calling out across the bus. You just nodded in response, avoiding his eyes.

That nickname would stick around much longer than you’d have liked.

And once Dart and the other Demo-dogs had started to arrive, and they weren’t taking the bait, Steve tossed his lighter to Dustin, telling him to “get ready,” and you watched him go outside with that nail bat, using himself as bait.

“He’s insane.” Max had stated, and you had silently agreed.

“He’s awesome.” Dustin had said with an awestruck expression, and for some reason you agreed with that too.

Dustin had clearly begun to admire Steve as a kind of role model, while in that moment, as you watched a number of Demodogs surround him swing at the monsters after you and your friends, you were beginning to admire Steve in a different way.

When he had run back to the bus, several Demo-dogs were right on his tail, and you had all screamed at him to run faster until he was eventually launching himself into the bus.

He pushed you all to the back of the bus, away from the monsters clawing at the door, and you were the one to make it to the ladder at the back of the bus, and the moment you looked up at the hole and saw a Demogorgon looking down at you, you screamed loudly.

“Out of the way! Out of the way!” Steve had yelled and Max yanked you back with her own shriek of fear, having seen the monster for the first time. Steve forced his way in front of you all, pushed you behind him, and raised the bat threateningly, ready to swing at the Demogorgon again. “You want some?! Come get this!”

And in that moment, right there in that rusty old bus, you fell in love with Steve Harrington.

He had jumped in front of you with nothing but that nail-studded baseball bat to protect you all, he had pushed you behind him like it was nothing, like it was easy.

For the rest of that night you were practically glued to his side, not close enough for him to notice, but lingering close enough that he was always nearby. Whatever room he was in, you weren’t far behind him.

From your walk to the lab, where you met up with Nancy and Jonathan, and soon after Chief Hopper, Joyce, Mike and Will, all the way to the Byers’ house, where you discovered that Will was possessed by the shadow monster he had seen and was somehow connected to the monsters, like a hive mind.

You and your friends made the connection between the shadow monster and the Mind Flayer, which Dustin then explained to the rest of the group, and soon after you, Dustin, Lucas, Max, Steve and Nancy waited inside while the others tried talking to Will in the newly disguised shed.

You sat on the couch, watching Steve as he practiced swinging his bat in the middle of the living room. You tried not to stare, really, but your newfound crush was hard to ignore. But then, awkwardly, you glanced over to Nancy.

Right, she was Steve’s girlfriend. Or… ex-girlfriend now? You weren’t sure, but all you knew was that you immediately felt guilty and you cast your eyes down to stare at your shoes instead.

When the Byers’s phone rang not once, but twice, and Nancy ripped it from the wall and threw it across the room, everything got hectic immediately.

The others came rushing back inside from the shed, weapons were distributed, and as Steve raised his nail bat, he pushed you behind him again so you were standing beside Dustin.

When the dead Demo-dog came flying through the window, shattering the glass, you all jumped back, and when El walked through the front door, relief flooded through your body immediately.

Her hair that had once been shaved was now slicked back, she was wearing dark clothes, converse and cuffed jeans, and had dark eye makeup on her face.

And when Hopper took a yelling Mike down the hallway to Will’s room after it came out that the Chief had known where she was for the entire last year and hadn’t said a thing to anyone.

But then she walked over to you, Dustin and Lucas, hugging the boys first and even touching Dustin’s teeth, which had only just grown in, before she walked over to hug you next.

“I’ve missed you so much.” You told her and she hugged you tighter.

“I missed you too.” She said before pulling back and smiling. 

Max stepped forward to introduce herself, giving a polite smile and holding out her hand, but instead of greeting her back, El brushed her off and walked away, towards Joyce.

Max turned to look at you, hurt evident on her features, and you watched El walk away.

“Did I do something wrong?” Max whispered to you and you frowned.

“I don’t… No, I don’t think so.” You told her and pat her shoulder.

Then soon after Hopper and El left to close the gate, and Will was taken by the Byers’ and Nancy to try and separate him from the hive mind, which left you and the rest of your friends alone with Steve once more, which was fine until Billy showed up.

Billy Hargrove was Max’s older step-brother, and he was a total piece of shit. Steve had gone outside to try and get him to leave, and Billy had just shoved him to the ground before bursting through the door, but instead of going for Max, he went for Lucas.

You and your friends were all shouting at Billy to stop as he slammed Lucas against the wall, threatening him, telling Lucas he was “So dead.”

And that’s when Steve stepped in and punched Billy, and for a moment things were looking up. Until they weren’t and Steve ended up getting his face pummeled in by Billy, who Max knocked out a moment later with a needle of whatever Hopper had used to knock Will out earlier.

“Shit, shit, shit, what do we do?” Dustin exclaimed, looking down at the two unconscious 18-year-old boys lying in the middle of Joyce Byers’s living room.

“We have to get to the tunnels,” Mike decided immediately. “To help El.”

“What about Steve?” You spoke up, gesturing down to him and his swollen face.

“What about Steve?” Mike repeated, giving you an unbothered look.

“Well, we can’t just leave him here, Mike, look at him.” You pointed out, and the five of you stared down at his bloody face, bruises already blooming on his skin beneath the red liquid.

“She’s right.” Dustin backed you up immediately. “Besides, he just saved Lucas, we can’t just leave him here for Billy to probably murder when he wakes up. Or what if he chokes on his own blood or some shit?”

Mike groaned loudly, rolling his eyes and looking down at his older sister’s ex? boyfriend. “Fine, whatever, we can bring him.”

“Yeah, but how are we even going to get there? It’s not exactly like we can just walk to the farm.” Lucas asked and Max spun on her heels quickly, walking over to Billy and digging through the pockets of his jeans before pulling out his car keys.

“I’ll drive.” Max said, holding the keys up and dangling them from her fingers.

“What? No!” Mike scoffed. “You can’t drive!”

“I’ve driven in a parking lot before, and I can guarantee that’s more than any of you.” She pointed around at the rest of you. “Besides, Steve clearly can’t drive because he’s practically dead.”

Dustin took off running down the hallway.

“Dude, where the hell are you going?” Lucas yelled after him.

“I’m getting medical supplies!” Dustin had shouted back.

You and Dustin were stuck cleaning up Steve’s face to the best of your abilities while the others scrambled around the house, collecting items they said you needed to go into the tunnels and light the ‘hub’ on fire.

Mike made a map based on the drawings taped to the walls, you all put pairs of gloves and masks in the trunk of Billy’s Camaro before you and Dustin hauled Steve into the backseat.

The car was extremely cramped, Max taking the driver’s seat, much to Mike’s chagrin, and Lucas took the passenger seat beside her to navigate with a map of Hawkins.

You, Dustin and Mike squashed into the backseat, and Steve was pulled between you and Dustin, though he was mostly lying on your laps due to the lack of space. At the time you had been extremely thankful that the car was dark, because your face was burning just due to the minimal contact.

After that, the night faded into a blur of chaos. Steve woke up, screaming frantically about Max driving, sounding so terrified that you were surprised he didn’t jump out of his skin, while Mike snapped at her from the backseat. Dustin was doing his best to comfort Steve while Lucas shouted directions at Max over the noise, screaming at how sharply she turned the corner into the farm.

You were frozen in your seat, stiff as a board, because in his panic Steve had grabbed a hold of your arm and now your heart was beating a mile a minute.

Then came the tunnels, dark, slimy, filled with spores from the Upside Down, and monsters from the very same place. Once you had made it to the hub with little-to-no trouble and doused it in gasoline, Steve tossed in his lighter and lit the place up.

You all raced back to the exit while Demo-dogs chased you all down the tunnels. Steve had lifted Max, Lucas and Mike up and out of the hole before the monsters came bounding around the corner, heading right towards you.

Steve’s arms wrapped around you and Dustin instinctively, and you had squeezed your eyes shut out of fear for your life.

The Demo-dogs just ran right by the three of you, and once they were gone, you all let out relieved breaths.

“You okay, Henderson?” Steve asked, patting Dustin on the shoulder and he nodded. Then he looked at you. “You good?”

Steve hoisted Dustin up first, and Mike and Lucas pulled him up and out of the hole. Then Steve turned to face you. 

“Alright, your turn, kid.” He had said, and all you could do was nod before Steve was grabbing your hips to help lift you out of the hole, and butterflies had swarmed in your stomach.

You felt ridiculous. All this for some stupid crush on Steve Harrington? You had to be out of your mind.

Surely it must’ve just been because of the situation over the last few days, and once everything went back to normal, you’d see Steve less and this crush would fade, right?

Wrong.

Suddenly, Steve was everywhere. Since his breakup with Nancy (which you had confirmed a couple weeks later when Will mentioned something about her and Jonathan definitely being together) Steve clearly had a lot of time on his hands, because now he was always hanging out with Dustin.

And because Dustin was your best friend, that meant you saw Steve a lot more than you would’ve liked. And that crush didn’t fade, not even a tiny bit.

By the time December of 1984 rolled around, Hawkins Middle School’s annual winter dance, the Snow Ball, was here.

You had been excited for the dance for weeks, it was an excuse to go out and dress up with your friends for a night, and maybe you hoped a boy would ask you to dance.

You had seen Lucas and Max grow closer, and Mike and El seemed to have something going on, and you wanted something like that too. And, besides, a boy your age asking you to dance might’ve helped you get rid of this stupid crush on him.

But it turned out that the boys at the dance weren’t the people you should’ve been worried about, because not even five minutes after you had arrived, feeling good about yourself and excited to see your friends, Stacey Albright cornered you.

–

Steve watched Dustin walk into the gym with an unfamiliar sense of pride; the smile that sneaks its way onto his face shows as much. He watched Dustin talking with Mr. Clarke, like a proud big brother, before his eyes betrayed him, his gaze slipping past Dustin and landing on Nancy.

Nancy, his now ex-girlfriend, was inside the gym, volunteering at the middle school dance because that’s the kind of person she was.

Steve’s eyes softened, but the smile he had had already disappeared from his face. He only stared for a moment, just a couple of seconds, before he forced himself to start the car and drive away so he could spend the next couple of hours alone before he had to come back and pick Dustin up.

But Steve only drove a few feet away before he stopped again, because as he turned to drive around the side of the gym, he spotted you.

You were sitting on the curb in your dress, knees brought up to your chest, and from where Steve was it looked like you were crying. Steve’s brows scrunched at the sight, why aren’t you inside with the others?

Steve parked not too far away before exiting his car, brushing his hands on the front of his red sweater, before he approached you.

Your eyes were glued to the ground in front of you, your shoulders shaking as your body was wracked with sobs, your chin buried in your arms that sat atop your knees. The sight made Steve frown.

“Hey, kid.” Steve spoke up and you jumped, your head snapping up so quickly Steve thought you were going to get whiplash. “Sorry– didn’t mean to scare you. What are you doing out here?”

You shrug half-heartedly, looking away from Steve and down at the ground, sniffling as you brought a hand up to your face, rubbing your eyes.

“I’m fine.” You told him and Steve let out a snort.

“Yeah, I’m not buying it.” He dropped down onto the curb to sit beside you, and your eyes went wide as you watched him do so. “What’s going on?”

“It’s dumb.” You muttered, still avoiding his eyes.

“It can’t be that dumb if it’s got you out here crying instead of being inside and having fun with your friends.” Steve pointed out and you sighed, still not looking at him. “Come on, kid, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

“Just… some girls.” You mumble, and Steve’s frown etched itself deeper into his face. “They were saying stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?”

You didn’t reply, instead you crossed your arms across your chest and curled further into yourself.

“Sometimes I just wish I was normal.” You said, and Steve paused.

“You are normal.” Steve said and you scoffed.

“No, I’m not.” You stated. “I’m a weird nerd and I’m ugly, and my dress looks ugly and no boys are gonna dance with me, I shouldn’t have even come to this stupid dance.”

For a moment, Steve didn’t know what to say. He knew how to talk to the boys, because he used to be a 13-year-old boy, but you? That was some new territory for him. But he found the words soon enough.

“Don’t listen to those other girls, they’re just jealous.” Steve stated. You immediately opened your mouth to protest, but Steve cut you off. “You’re way cooler than those other girls. You’ve fought interdimensional monsters.”

“You did most of the fighting.” You mumbled, but Steve waved you off.

“That’s besides the point.” He said. “If those other girls are being mean to you, they’re just lame.”

“This dress is lame.” You muttered back, flicking at your skirt.

“No, it’s not. You look pretty.” Steve complimented and you finally looked over at him.

“You really think so?” Your voice was quiet, but your eyes were wide and locked onto Steve as your tear-stained cheeks flushed.

“Very pretty.” He told you with a nod. “Too pretty to be sitting out here and crying while all of your friends are inside and probably wondering where you are.”

“But what if nobody wants to dance with me?” You asked Steve, tears still brimming in the corners of your eyes. “That’s what Stacey said would happen.”

“Well Stacey sounds like a bitch.” Steve stated bluntly, causing a giggle to escape your lips. “And if no boys want to dance with you, it’s because middle school boys are dumb.”

“I can’t wait to go to high school.” You said, and Steve chuckled.

“Yeah, well, high school boys are pretty dumb, too.” He said with an exhale, gesturing to himself. “But trust me, kid, one day you’re gonna find some guy who loves you for all those things you don’t like about yourself, and those girls are probably never gonna find something like that.”

“What makes you so sure?” You asked Steve, more curious than anything, but still soaking in every word.

Steve just shrugs. “Because you deserve it.”

You stared at him for a moment. You had stopped crying by now, and Steve took that as a small victory as you gave him a small smile.

“Thanks, Steve.” You sighed and Steve stood up, offering you his hand.

“Come on, let’s get you inside to your friends.” Steve said and you took his hand and let him lift you to your feet. You brushed off your skirt, frowning as you wiped your cheeks, and you nodded.

But you didn’t even make it around the corner before you froze at the sound of Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time flooding out from the gym.

You spun around to face Steve again.

“I can’t do it. Nobody’s gonna dance with me.” You stated. “I don’t even know how to dance.”

“It’s easy.” Steve shrugged, then he offered you his hand again. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

“Steve, you don’t have to.” You told him, eyes full of panic, but he brushed it off.

“I need practice before prom anyway, if anything you’re doing me a favor.” He said, making you chuckle. “Here, put your hands on my shoulders.”

That night Steve Harrington became the first boy you had ever danced with, in the dark Hawkins Middle School parking lot in the middle of a cold December night.

That night you also knew you were completely screwed, and no boy your age would ever stand a chance, because you were absolutely head-over-heels obsessed with Steve Harrington.

–

The new year came quickly after that, and with 1985 came a brand new mall in Hawkins called Starcourt Mall, and after you and your friends officially finished middle school you were all spending almost every day of the summer there.

Well, all except Dustin, who went off to summer camp in the beginning of June. But the rest of you were spending your days outside riding your bikes or going swimming in the day before heading to the mall in the evenings.

And your favorite part of each trip to Starcourt, by far, was when you’d visit the little ice cream shop, Scoops Ahoy. Sometimes it was just for a snack, and sometimes it was to sneak into the movie theater for free.

The reason didn’t matter to you, because you were just happy to see Steve. He had gotten a job at Scoops Ahoy for the summer, which meant every time you went there, he was standing behind the counter in a cheesy sailor’s costume that he somehow still looked good in, hat and all. You were sure your face had flushed with heat the first time you had noticed his chest hair peeking out from beneath the shirt of his uniform.

There’s only one thing you didn’t like about seeing Steve at Scoops Ahoy, and that’s when he flirted with almost every girl his age who crossed the counter. He didn’t score a single date, not in that uniform, but it still hurt.

It made you wish that you were just a few years older. It made you think, if I was his age maybe he’d actually return your feelings.

And the thing was, Steve didn’t have a clue.

He greeted you casually, smiling at you or rolling his eyes like he did with all of your friends. A part of you was upset, but another part of you knew it was for the better. 

Steve had just turned 19 that June, and you were turning 15 in September. He had graduated high school, and you were only just about to start when the summer was over.

Realistically, you knew it wouldn’t work, and you knew it would be just weird if Steve actually liked you back at that point, but it still felt like a curse.

–

The night before Dustin came home from Camp Knowhere, you and your friends wanted to go see Day of the Dead, which meant you had to sneak in. And sneaking in meant seeing Steve.

It’s not that you purposefully dressed up just because you’d be seeing Steve for what was probably one minute at most, but you might’ve been dressed just a little bit nicer than usual for a trip to the movies with your friends.

Of course, you, Lucas, Max and Will all ended up waiting outside the mall for Mike to arrive from his usual daily visit to El at Hopper’s cabin, which meant your friends had plenty of time to analyse your outfit–specifically Max.

“Why are you dressed up?” She asked you suddenly, cutting off Lucas and Will’s complaining about Mike’s tardiness, and you scoffed.

“I’m not, these are my regular clothes.” You weren’t exactly lying, but you weren’t telling the whole truth either.

Max’s eyes narrowed at you, but Lucas shrugged from beside her. “I think she’s dressed normally.”

“Thank you.” You said to Lucas, but Max just raised an eyebrow.

“Right.” She nodded slowly, and a moment later Mike arrived.

“You’re late.” Lucas had stated with crossed arms as Mike jumped off off his bike.

“Sorry!” Mike replied, but he didn’t seem to mean it.

“Again.” Lucas emphasised.

“We’re gonna miss the opening.” Will added.

“Yeah, if you guys keep whining about it.” Mike said as he put his bike in the bike rack. “Let’s go!”

“‘If you guys keep whining about it. Nyeh-nyeh-nyeh.’” Lucas imitated Mike and you had snickered.

Then as you walked through the mall, Lucas complained about and mocked Mike for spending so much time with El and not the rest of you. It made you and Will laugh.

As you and your friends pushed your way down the escalator and towards the food court, bumping into a bunch of people as you went, your stomach began to flip with excitement.

You all made it to Scoops Ahoy and Steve was nowhere to be seen, instead his co-worker Robin was behind the counter. You thought Robin seemed cool, from what you had seen she was funny, sometimes a little blunt, but you liked her. You just hoped Steve didn’t.

Mike smacked his hand down on the bell on the counter several times, despite the fact that Robin was right there. She sighed and called out, “Hey, dingus, your children are here!”

And then the window on the back wall slid open and there was Steve in his sailor uniform with a scowl on his face as he looked over your group.

“Again? Seriously?” He asked, but instead Mike just rang the bell once more. He groaned, but ushered you all over.

He held the door to the back room open for you all, Mike and Will entering first, then Lucas and Max, and you were pulling up the rear. You smiled up at him as you passed him.

“Hi, Steve.” You greeted quietly and he sighed, but put on a smile.

“Hey, kid.” He said, letting the back door swing shut before he headed to the front of the group to open the door to the delivery tunnel out the back. He peered out through the peephole to make sure nobody was around before ushering you all out the door and into the hallway. “Come on. Come on.”

While your friends all pushed in and walked ahead, you gave Steve an appreciative smile. He didn’t pay any mind, instead just looked pretty stressed out as he called out after you all.

“I swear, if anyone finds out about this–” He would say the same thing almost every time, because he was worried about losing his job, but he knew your friends wouldn’t give up until he let them through.

“We’re dead!” You all chorused and you waved to Steve before following your friends down the hallway.

Steve closed the door with a heavy sigh and walked through the Scoops Ahoy back room before he made it behind the counter again, only to find his co-worker Robin already staring at him with an amused smile.

“Oh, what now?” He groaned and she chuckled.

“That little girl has a crush on you.” Robin stated and Steve stopped in his tracks, his blue Adidas sneakers squeaking against the tiled floor.

“What? Who, Max?” He asked, confused. “I’m pretty sure she’s actually with Lucas again right now, so you’re definitely wrong.”

“Is Max the redhead?” Robin asked and when Steve nodded she sighed. “Well, I’m not talking about her, I’m talking about the other girl.”

Steve said your name, and now looked even more puzzled, his brows drawing inwards as he looked at Robin. “No, she doesn’t.”

“Uh, yes, she totally does, dingus.” Robin chuckled, shaking her head. “God, you really are oblivious.”

“Um, no, those kids all see me as, like, I don’t know… A babysitter, older brother type, you know? I’m their friend.” Steve explained, like Robin was maybe just missing something. She was completely unaware of the trauma bond that had formed between the group over the last two falls. “She doesn’t have a crush on me, okay? She probably just thinks I’m cool.”

But, of course, Steve was wrong and Robin was absolutely right, because you did have a crush on Steve, which is what Max had been making fun of you for quietly as you walked through the delivery tunnels.

“You totally have a crush on Steve!” She had whisper-shouted to you at the back of the group with a giggle and your cheeks flushed with warmth.

“No, I don’t.” You lied. “Shut up.”

“That’s why you got all dressed up!” She realized and you shot her a glare.

“Shut up, Max, before the others hear you.” You hissed and she snickered.

“I knew it.”

When you had successfully made it into the theatre, you had split off to the few empty seats in the room. Max and Lucas ended up in the row in front of you, Mike and Will

The movie had been fine, except for the fact the power had cut out completely only a few minutes in. But it wasn’t just in the cinema, it wasn’t even just Starcourt Mall, it was the entire town of Hawkins.

When the power came back and the movie continued to play, the entire theater cheered before falling back to a regular silence and the rest of the night went on just fine. Completely normal, unlike the rest of the week would turn out to be.

–

The next day you and your friends surprise Dustin at his house once he returns from camp, and Lucas ended up with hairspray in his eyes.

Finding out that Dustin had somehow scored a girlfriend he deemed ‘hotter than Phoebe Cates’ in his three-week-long science camp was a shock to not only you, but the rest of your friends too.

But that wasn’t as much of a shock as what you and Dustin heard on his super radio, which he had named Cerebro in a true X-Men fan fashion.

You had all spent the entire afternoon lugging Dustin’s radio equipment up the tallest hill in Hawkins, one your friends called Weathertop, because he wanted to introduce you all to his girlfriend, Suzie.

But as the day turned into night and Suzie was nowhere to be heard, your friends had slipped away one-by-one. First Mike and El, who had ditched you before even making it up the hill, then Lucas and Max who left once nightfall had hit. Will stayed the longest, but once it started to get too late he left too, suggesting you all play Dungeons and Dragons the next day.

You stuck around, mostly because you had noticed the way Dustin had seemed to deflate as each of your friends left, and you wanted to know if his girlfriend was real or not.

“Guess it’s just you and me, huh?” Dustin had said and you just nodded at him in the dark as he repeated the prase, “Suzie, do you copy?”

By the end of the night you still hadn’t heard from Suzie, but you and Dustin had somehow intercepted what sounded like a secret Russian communication. Which led you to Scoops Ahoy the next day.

Dustin, of course, had wanted to see Steve and complain about how everyone else had ditched him the night before, but he also wanted to recruit him because overnight he had somehow gotten the idea that if you were to translate the Russian phrases he had recorded off the radio, you’d all become ‘American Heroes’.

The thing is, though, Dustin wanted to tell Steve all of this alone, which meant while they were talking in a booth in the back corner, you were leaning against the front corner, shooting them glances.

Robin was behind the counter, serving customers and wiping down benches, while also watching you. And after calling out to Dustin, making fun of Steve, she turned to you.

“So…” She said your name and you looked up. “That’s your name, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” You replied and she nodded.

“Cool. So, uh, how long have you had a crush on Harrington over there?” She asked and your cheeks immediately flushed with warmth. Your fingers pinched at the chain of the necklace hanging from your neck, fiddling with the charm.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You lied. 13-year-olds aren’t the best at lying, and Robin very clearly saw right through you. “He’s, you know, old. And dumb. And hairy.”

Robin snickered and you looked down at your shoes. “Right.”

“I would never like him, okay?” You defended weakly.

“Like who?” Steve’s voice came from behind you and you froze, eyes going wide.

“Nobody.” You muttered and he raised his eyebrows. Dustin’s eyes locked onto yours and he stared you down like he was trying to read your mind. “Seriously, nobody.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, kid.” Steve teased and Robin glanced at you with amusement evident on her features. Then he nodded for you to follow him and Dustin to the backroom of Scoops Ahoy.

That’s where you spent the rest of the day, translating Russian phrases that seemed to be utter nonsense. Not a single word seemed to correlate with one another, and yet you had ended up translating a few sentences anyway.

Then, as you left Scoops Ahoy that night, you had all debated whether or not ‘The week is long, the silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west,’ was a secret code of some kind.

And then Steve worked out that the music in the background of the recording, something the rest of you had chosen to ignore, was in fact coming from a mechanical horse from inside of Starcourt Mall.

Then Robin left on her bike, while Steve waited in his car, watching to make sure you and Dustin were alright riding your bikes home.

When you were gone, riding your bikes side by side, Dustin spoke up. He offered for you to stay the night at his. He knew you didn’t want to go home, not to your parents who fight every night. You took him up on the offer.

The next day, you and Robin sat around at Scoops Ahoy trying to crack the entire code you had finished translating while Steve and Dustin searched the mall for any signs of ‘secret Russians’.

You sat cross legged on a countertop in the back room, the straw of a milkshake between your lips while Robin mumbled the same words over and over, staring down at a notepad.

Robin cracked the code that same day, and that night was the night you found the secret room in the back of the mall, guarded by what your group had now confirmed to be ‘Evil Russians’.

But, of course, finding the room wasn’t enough and then you needed to find a way in, and after Robin bought blueprints to the mall and roped Erica Sinclair into the mix, you made it into the secret room the next night.

Upon opening a box that was labelled for the mall’s Chinese restaurant, you all found something that absolutely wasn’t Chinese food. Once Steve had pulled out a glass cylinder of some kind of mysterious, green liquid, the secret room had began to move.

That was when you found out the room was an elevator.

The next couple of days were a blur. You were all stuck in that elevator overnight, you had to spend the night listening to Steve and Robin talking the entire time while your chest burned with jealousy.

But the rest of your time in that dark, underground base was worse. So much worse.

You had spent almost all day walking down a painfully long hallway, arguing about the design of the base, who was and wasn’t a nerd, and whatever the hell that mysterious, green and acidic liquid was. There was even one small moment where you, Dustin and Steve had all shared looks and debated quietly whether or not the Russians knew about the Upside Down.

Then you made it to the main part of the bunker which was crawling with soldiers and scientists. You made it up to the comms room and watched Steve fight and successfully knock out one of the Russian soldiers.

While Dustin celebrated and Steve smiled proudly, pushing some of his floppy hair away from his face, you had struggled to tear your eyes away from him. That was, until Robin found something at the top of a set of stairs.

It was a giant machine, and that machine was opening a gate. A gate to the Upside Down.

You couldn’t even explain anything to Robin or Erica because a moment later the five of you were sprinting down hallways and running around corners while Russian soldiers chased you until Steve and Robin had yelled for the three of you to leave them behind and escape into the vents.

You, of course, had been extremely hesitant. You didn’t want to leave them, and neither did Dustin, but they were busy trying to hold a door shut and get the rest of you out of there to follow you.

Erica went in first, then you had forced yourself to follow her before Dustin joined you in the vents and you crawled away having to listen to the sound of yelling in Russian behind you, because Steve and Robin had been caught.

Your time in the vents might’ve been worse than the elevator or the hallway, because now you were terrified. You had no idea if Steve and Robin were okay, or even alive. You had no idea where you were or how to get out of the bunker. 

While Dustin explained everything to Erica, about when Will went missing and the Upside Down, and the two had an entire long conversation about My Little Pony, you were silent, only chiming in a few times to add to Dustin’s story. Erica had believed it all, except for the fact that Lucas was there, which was apparently hard for her to believe.

Once you had made it out of the vents and found Steve and Robin, they weren’t in the best condition at all.

You had gasped upon running into the room to find his face beaten black and blue, blood coated his face and his uniform and his eye was swollen shut. Robin looked better, shaken but unharmed for the most part.

Dustin had taken out the doctor in the room and the three of you had hurried to untie the older teens. The only issue was that Steve and Robin weren’t acting right.

They were giggling, a little hyperactive, whispering to one another, laughing hysterically at things that weren’t even funny, and just acting nothing like themselves.

You were the one to come to the conclusion that they were drugged once you were all back in the elevator, this time heading up. You had just watched Steve tumble to the ground after pretending he was surfing on some kind of delivery cart.

Dustin had checked and found his pupils were dilated and his eyes were a bright red. Though neither of them would give any of you a straight answer.

After getting out of the elevator, you had made it maybe ten feet away from the doors before two Russian guards were running towards you.

“Shit!” You and Dustin had yelled and shared a look before ushering Steve and Robin towards a door by your side.

“Why are we running?” Steve questioned and you had grabbed onto his arm to pull him into the delivery tunnels you would use to sneak into the cinema, and despite everything going on your stomach had fluttered at the contact.

Hiding in the cinema was easy. There was a late night showing of Back to the Future playing and you had forced Steve and Robin down into front row seats. You, Dustin and Erica had found more seats, but a moment later you and Dustin had headed up to the projection room with his walkie to try and get into contact with any of the others.

Luckily, you had managed to get into contact with Mike.

Unluckily, you had barely been able to tell him anything before the audio cut out and Dustin’s walkie ran out of battery.

He turned to face you with a desperate expression.

“Do you have yours?” He asked and you shook your head before pausing. “What about more batteries?”

“Wait–” You had realized and your face lit up as you met Dustin’s eyes. “I think my walkie is still in the backroom at Scoops.”

“Does it have battery?” He questioned you.

“I mean, it should do. It hasn’t been used in like a day.” You pointed out and Dustin shrugged. “Do you think we’d be able to get down to Scoops without getting caught?”

“Do you know the way through the tunnels?” He asked and you nodded.

“You have no idea how many movies Steve has sneaked us into, dude. Yeah, I know the way.” You stated before you both jumped up and hurried back down to the front row to find Erica.

The only issue was that now Steve and Robin weren’t in their seats.

After some searching, you had found them in the women’s bathroom, sitting on the dirty floor of the same stall, facing each other and laughing.

While Dustin scolded the pair for running off, you were trying your best to push down that disgusting feeling of jealously that swirled in your stomach.

The rest of the night was a mix of running from both Russian soldiers and a giant flesh-like version of the Mind Flayer, arguing with the rest of the group once you had all reconvened and shared what you had each discovered. 

There was blood, you had to hold El’s hand tight while Jonathan had sliced her leg open looking for something that had been moving inside it. There had been singing, when Dustin had somehow come into contact with his girlfriend Suzie and you and Erica just had to sit on the grass beside him and watch. There had been fire, after the others had used fireworks to attack the Mind Flayer they had unintentionally set the entire mall on fire.

And there had been tears, because when they were down in that Russian bunker to close the gate that had been opened, Hopper had died. And Max’s step-brother Billy had been killed by the Mind Flayer right in front of her.

But, for the most part, everyone was okay. Some bloodier than others, some suffering a little more trauma than before, but okay.

Once he had gotten his keys back, some American soldiers had recovered them from the Russian base, Steve had driven you, Dustin and Robin back to his place.

The Harrington house was large, and empty. Steve had made some excuse saying it was to make sure the drugs wouldn’t kill him and Robin in their sleep, saying something else about how he had accidentally given the Russians Dustin’s full name, but you had a feeling he just didn’t want to be alone, not after everything that had happened.

The four of you had crashed in his living room, Steve covering the sofas and large wooden floor in a collection of pillows and blankets before you all practically passed out, sleeping in until late the next afternoon.

–

El and the Byers’ moved three months later, not long after you all started high school. Saying goodbye to your friends before they moved to California wasn’t easy for any of you, especially not for Mike, but you all pushed through.

High school was different. You, Dustin, Lucas and Mike had a rough start, but soon you joined a D&D club called the Hellfire Club, led by a senior named Eddie Munson.

Eddie was great, despite being older than most seniors due to being held back for several years. He was cool, he was funny, he had a band and he loved D&D.

Steve, unlike the rest of you, didn’t like Eddie very much. He would make vague comments here and there whenever Dustin mentioned him in passing, or when Mike talked about Hellfire, or when Lucas told him a story while the two practiced basketball.

High school was very different from middle school. While, at first, you and your friends had fallen into your usual places at the bottom of the food chain, that didn’t last long for some of you.

Lucas had made it onto the basketball team, though he had been riding the bench all year, which had already given him a bit of a boost when it came to terms of friends. 

Mike and Dustin didn’t seem to care about popularity, rather embracing the fact that you were all nerds and geeks thanks to Eddie’s ‘guidance’.

Max still sat with you guys sometimes, hung out occasionally, but she had started to isolate herself from everyone. She had been struggling mentally, mostly due to her step-brother’s death, something she only ever told the school therapist and, well, you.

You weren’t quite sure what had happened to you in high school, or what had happened to your peers, because the bullying from other girls had diminished, and now they actually talked to you in the hallways, or sat with you in class, or paired up with you for projects.

It was different, but it was nice.

Though, sure, there were still times where they’d judge your friends, or some of your interests, like D&D, but you’d much prefer they make fun of the fantasy game you played with your friends than make fun of you.

Your first year of high school started off fine, great even, up until Spring break.

That’s when shit really hit the fan.

The last day of school before break was the last day of the Hellfire Club’s D&D campaign against the cult of Vecna, but it had coincided with Lucas’s basketball game. You had wanted to go and watch, but Eddie was already pissed enough that Lucas would be missing Hellfire, and you didn’t want to get on his bad side.

So you instead recruited Erica to be his substitute for the night, though you felt bad for missing your friend’s game, especially when you found out he not only actually had a chance to play, but had scored the team’s winning shot.

But the break itself was worse.

Mike had gone to California to visit El and Will, while you, Dustin and Max spent the first day of your break finding out that a Hawkins High student, Chrissy Cunningham, was found murdered at the trailer park Max lived in – specifically in Eddie’s trailer.

But Eddie himself was nowhere to be found, Max had seen him fleeing the scene in fear the night before, speeding out of the trailer park faster than she had ever seen him drive before.

So, of course, you, Dustin and Max had ended up in Family Video, where Steve and Robin had been working since about October, since the Byers’ had left town. 

Your group debated on whether or not Eddie was capable of murder, Steve being the only person to really think he was, while proceeding to use the three phones inside the video store to call Eddie’s friends in an attempt to track him down.

You were helping your friends, of course you were, but you couldn’t help but sneak longing stares over at Steve as he ‘attended to the customers’, and flirted with any girl his age that walked through those glass doors.

But you pushed down those feelings of jealousy and disappointment you had grown familiar with and did your best to focus on the task at hand. 

Still your eyes would betray you and flick towards Steve every so often, taking him in. The way his green vest stretched over his shoulders, the chest hair sticking out from the open top buttons of his polo shirt.

You’d watch him drag his hands through his hair in some kind of pathetic attempt to impress a girl who turned out to have a boyfriend and mourned the fact that you’d never be able to have him.

Eventually your friends managed to track Eddie down to the house of a drug dealer named ‘Reefer Rick’, and once you found him there, wide-eyed, shaking and terrified, Eddie told you all about what had happened with Chrissy.

How she seemed to be in a trance, how she floated into the air with her eyes rolled into the back of her head. How each of her limbs snapped and broke violently before her eyes popped from her skull and her body crumpled to the ground right in front of Eddie.

You, Dustin and Eddie then noticed the similarities between Chrissy’s trance and being under a spell or a curse. Specifically, Vecna’s curse. The same dark wizard you had just finished fighting in your Hellfire campaign.

You and your friends spent the next days doing your best to keep Eddie hidden from the police, bringing him food deliveries when you could, while also doing whatever research you could to find out what, or who, Vecna was, and why he was going after Hawkins High students.

After the second murder, a boy from the school paper named Fred, Nancy Wheeler joined your small group and you had to pretend you weren’t jealous whenever Steve looked her way, his eyes softening. When he practically jumped at the opportunity to go with her to follow a potential lead, only to end up pissed off when Robin went with her and he was stuck ‘babysitting’ you, Dustin and Max.

But then you found out Vecna was going after Max next, and suddenly everything was scarier. When you watched her float into the air just moments after Lucas had slipped her headphones over her ears, you thought she was going to die.

You had grabbed onto Steve’s arm out of fear, staring up at your friend as you all screamed her name, begging for her to come back down to the ground and out of that trance she was stuck in.

And she did, Max fell to the ground with the rest of you and Lucas cradled her shaking body in his arms, holding her close to his chest as she struggled to catch her breath.

After Nancy and Robin found out that Victor Creel’s family might’ve also been killed by Vecna, and Max had seen an old, broken house when she was in Vecna’s mind, your group went to the old abandoned Creel home to search for clues.

After Max found an old grandfather clock identical to the one she had seen in her visions, and Steve had suggested that Vecna could’ve been a clockmaker, you all split off into groups to explore. Robin and Nancy went together, Max and Lucas, which left you with Dustin and Steve.

Steve didn’t seem too thrilled, letting out a loud sigh and complaining about always being grouped with Dustin.

It made you frown, disappointment flooding your body. First you had been watching him make eyes and flirt with Nancy for the last couple of days, and now he was acting like being grouped with you and Dustin was a chore.

You were quiet as the two boys argued, Dustin quoting Sherlock Holmes and Steve not understanding a word before Dustin wandered off, and you followed behind.

Nobody really found anything in the house, but at one point while crossing the upstairs hallway you caught a glimpse of Steve and Nancy standing a little too close together while she smiled up at him. That was enough to dampen your mood for the rest of the night.

You knew it shouldn’t have mattered, there were more pressing issues going on at the time – like the fact Max had almost died and Eddie was being framed for murder – but you just couldn’t shake the jealous feeling away.

That night, after your flashlights had all blown up, you spent the night staring at the ceiling and replaying the way Steve had looked at Nancy over and over again.

It had just made you feel ridiculous. You needed to move on, find someone your own age, someone who could actually return your feelings and give you that love you craved so much. So you decided that you would, that tonight was the last night you would care about Steve Harrington and after that he would go back to being nothing more than a friend.

And then you saw him the next day, wearing that yellow sweater with a wide smile on his face, offering you Pringles in the back of Nancy’s station wagon, and you tried so hard to ignore the way your stomach fluttered when his big, brown puppy dog eyes met yours.

The fact that Vecna had killed another teenager – a boy from the basketball team named Patrick – the night before helped keep you distracted, but when you and your friends were walking through the woods in search of Eddie, following Steve and Dustin as they argued while leading you all to ‘Skull Rock’, you were left alone with your thoughts.

Of course, it wasn’t that long before Steve had found Skull Rock and began rubbing it in Dustin’s face that he was right and your best friend was wrong and you had found Eddie.

While Eddie ate the food you had all brought for him and he recounted the previous night’s events, including when Patrick was lifted into the air in the middle of Lover’s Lake and had each of his limbs snapped one by one, Dustin paced back and forth while staring down at his compass.

That was, until he yelled out a very loud, “Boom!” That echoed through the woods before he pointed at Steve. “Bada boom.”

Steve, naturally, was confused, as were the rest of you, before Dustin began spouting off about how Skull Rock was North once more, which made Steve roll his eyes before he started to argue back.

Then Dustin told you all that Skull Rock in fact was North, and his compass had been leading him in the wrong direction, which then made him point towards you and Lucas, making you recall a piece of information you had learned back when you were 13 and had just learned about El and the lab for the first time.

“Do you guys remember what can affect a compass?” Dustin had asked, and it was like a lightbulb had gone off in your head.

“An electromagnetic field.” You and Lucas both answered, like the memory of that information had just resurfaced for the first time in years.

While the others in the group were confused, you were starting to understand what Dustin was getting at. There was likely a gate somewhere nearby, much like when your compasses had deflected towards the lab back in 1983.

The rest of the afternoon was spent following Dustin and his compass through the woods as the sun set and darkness fell over Hawkins, and eventually his compass had started going totally beserk and he started running.

Eddie managed to grab him by the shoulder and stop Dustin from falling right into Lover’s Lake, which was where the compass had led him, which meant the gate was likely somewhere… inside of it.

The older teens all ended up on a rowboat with Dustin’s compass, leaving you, Dustin, Lucas and Max on the shore, watching them with a pair of binoculars.

“Wait, wait, wait. They’re stopping.” Lucas said suddenly, holding the binoculars to his eyes while hitting Dustin in the chest. “What are they stopping for?”

Dustin scrambled for his walkie. “Guys, what’s going on? Come on, guys, talk to me, what’s going on?”

You and Max had been standing off to the side, a little further back, whispering to each other, but your attention had been stolen once the boys had started to speak.

“Uh, Dustin, your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital, ‘ahh!’” Robin’s voice crackled through and you had sighed, disappointed that you were all sidelined and forced to stay on the shore.

A few more silent moments passed before Lucas let out a disgusted groan.

“Ugh. When’d Steve get so hairy?” He asked and Max’s head snapped towards you with a wide smirk on her face, making your cheeks heat up as you whispered for her to stop.

“Right? I keep telling him he needs to tame that jungle, but he claims the ladies dig it.” Dustin explained and the boys each made a face before you stepped forward and reached for the binoculars around Lucas’s neck.

“Pass me those.” You said and he shot you a confused look before you took them right from his hands and peered through them yourself, getting a look at a very shirtless Steve Harrington in all his glory.

Lucas and Dustin shared confused looks for a moment before Dustin made a sound that was half a scoff, half a surprised yelp before asking, “Dude! What the hell?”

You just gave a shrug and watched as Steve dove into the lake, disappearing beneath the cold, dark water, and you handed the binoculars back to Lucas.

However, you and your friends didn’t get to see the outcome of the dive, because only a few moments after Steve dove in, you and your friends were lying on the ground and hiding behind a log because the cops had arrived.

Robin’s voice crackled through on Dustin’s walkie, saying Steve found the gate, but none of you paid any mind as he switched the walkie off and you stayed hidden for a moment more. And in order to keep the cops away from Eddie, Max jumped up and yelled for the cops to follow her.

Of course, you all got caught, and an hour later the four of you were cramped onto the couch in the Wheelers’ living room, surrounded by cops and your parents.

You had shrunk into the sofa at the sight of both your mother and father in the same room, but this time their anger was directed at you and not each other.

After some questioning, where you all lied in response to almost every question, you explained everything that had been going on to Erica, and she was the one who noticed the blinking light in the dining room, morse code that Dustin translated spelling out S.O.S..

Communicating with Steve, Nancy, Robin and Eddie in the Upside Down using Holly Wheeler’s lite-brite seemed crazy, but what was crazier was sneaking out of Nancy Wheeler’s bedroom window and running away from the cops, Erica popping the tires of the police cruiser before the now five of you rode your bikes across town to Eddie’s trailer.

There was a gate on the ceiling, and Dustin used a broom to break open the red, fleshy gateway to reveal the Upside Down on the other side. A moment later, Steve appeared above you, standing in the same place you were, looking up – or down – at the rest of you. Nancy, Robin and Eddie followed suit and you all waved happily, chuckling at the absurdity of the situation, before you were dragging Eddie’s mattress out of his bedroom to use as a landing pad to help the others through the gate and back to your world.

Except that proved difficult when after Robin and Eddie had crossed over, Nancy ended up in a trance much like Max and the rest of you searched Eddie’s trailer for any music that could help her while Steve stayed with her in the Upside Down, cupping her face and shouting for you all to hurry.

But Nancy got out of the trance on her own, and once she explained to you all what had happened, what she had seen, what Vecna – or Henry Creel, Number One – had shown her, to say you were terrified would be an understatement.

The end of the world. Hawkins on fire, everyone dying. Four gates opening up and spreading across Hawkins, splitting the Earth open.

Hearing that was enough to stop you from thinking about how Steve was sitting just a couple of feet away from you, completely shirtless except for Eddie’s denim vest he had started wearing at some point in the Upside Down.

So your group started coming up with a plan, Vecna wanted to kill four people, so Max would offer herself up as bait. Then, you’d strike.

Naturally, Eddie suggested getting weapons and gear from an army surplus store known as ‘The War Zone’, but it was too far for you to bike there. So Eddie hotwired his neighbors’ motor home and had Steve drive the damn thing there.

Halfway there, you had been sitting at a table in the back with Dustin, but your eyes kept drifting over to Steve driving the RV, and Nancy in the passenger seat talking to him with a soft smile. And Steve would turn and look at her with an expression you could only describe as pure longing, maybe even love.

And he told her a story about his dream for the future, about driving around in a Winnebago with five or six kids of his own, and then he looked at Nancy again. Suddenly you wanted to sink into the floor and never come back.

At the War Zone, you had to stay in the RV with Eddie, Dustin and Lucas as members of the Hellfire Club who were currently being hunted like the Salem Witch Trials, and obviously one of you had been framed for several murders in town. All of Hawkins believed you to be devil worshippers of some kind.

After your friends bought half of the store and then had a brief run in with Jason, Chrissy’s boyfriend, and the other members of the basketball team who were currently hunting you all down – especially Eddie – Steve, now dressed in a leather jacket and a camo shirt, pulled the RV off onto a field where you all began preparing your weapons.

You sat beside Max and Nancy on some old milk crates as Nancy sawed off the end of her new shotgun. Max asked her if it was legal for her to do so, and Nancy replied with something about it being a felony. You were distracted, yet again, by your overwhelming crush on Steve.

He was sitting with Robin in front of the Winnebago, filling bottles with kerosene to make their own flaming molotovs. And you kept glancing his way, then practically staring.

Then, at one point, he looked up and glanced your way. Your eyes darted away immediately and you turned your body to face Max, unaware that Steve hadn’t even noticed you staring because he had been looking at Nancy.

Max chuckled at you and immediately began with the teasing again, some comment about you drooling or making ‘heart eyes’ at Steve. You shushed her, but it was too late because Nancy, Steve’s ex-girlfriend who he had been flirting with over the last several days straight, had heard her.

Your face flushed with warmth and you looked down at your shoes on the grass, then shot Max a harsh glare when you thought Nancy wasn’t looking. But, of course, she still was, and even huffed out a little laugh.

“It’s okay,” She told you, her lip quirking up slightly as she said your name, and your attention was all hers a moment later. “I mean, I was the same once upon a time. Had a big crush on Steve, obviously you knew that because we…”

“Nancy.” You groaned, covering your face with your hands out of embarrassment, and Max had immediately started saying something about you being ‘in love with Steve for like two years’. 

You should’ve been used to her teasing by now, it was stupid and you knew it. It was just some dumb teenage crush. But you had slowly began curling into yourself, your arms wrapping around your body as your thoughts and insecurities took over.

You weren’t sure if it was about Steve, or just about craving that kind of attention. Craving love and a relationship, much like you had seen and heard from your friends.

Max and Lucas, Mike and El, Dustin and his long distance girlfriend Suzie, hell, even seeing Nancy with Jonathan. It felt like you were missing out on something that everyone else was allowed to have.

Your friends were all growing up and getting these experiences you could only dream of, like having a first kiss, or dancing with a boy who actually liked you and wasn’t just trying to comfort you when he found you crying on the curb outside the Middle School gymnasium.

So you lived vicariously through teen romcoms and stories from other girls in school, fantasizing about the moment a boy would actually show that kind of interest towards you. To want you, to love you.

And Steve… Steve was older. He was cool, he was good looking, he was funny, he had that charm you had seen him use to ask girls out on dates at Family Video while you were browsing for the closest thing you’d ever get to a relationship, aka. Star Wars, where you’d watch Han and Leia and sigh to yourself, or some cheesy movie where the guy pines after a girl for years and then finally wins her heart.

But Steve was also the first boy who had ever said that you looked pretty, and he was the first boy who had ever danced with you. And he was the first boy you had ever had a crush on that had lasted longer than a couple weeks.

All of it together was just enough to make you crave it so badly. Crave that experience of a relationship and that feeling of love.

And of course the only boy you had ever really liked had absolutely no chance of liking you back. Not in a million years.

“Can we just drop it please?” You asked and while Max nodded, Nancy gave you a sympathetic look that made you want to crawl into a hole and die.

So that night you were dropped off at the Creel House with Max, Lucas and Erica, and after stepping off of the dead silent Winnebago, you turned back and looked at Steve, eyes full of fear. He was watching you all as you left, and when he saw you looking back, he nodded at you, telling you to go on.

You did. You followed your friends into the creaky, old, crumbling house as the sun set, unaware of just how badly the night would end.

It started off okay, walking around the house only in socks, using lanterns as light and communicating using notepads to avoid making any noise that could potentially alert Vecna to your positions, and soon you and Erica had been hurrying outside as phase 2 initiated, to signal to the others in the Upside Down when you were going into phase 3. 

That’s when shit went downhill, because then Jason and his jock friends showed up. One of the basketballers, Andy, chased you and Erica away from the playground before he tackled you to the ground and pinned your arms behind your back.

You had been struggling against his grip until Erica managed to push him off of you and kicked him right in the balls, and Andy curled into himself, his hands grabbing at his crotch as he groaned in pain.

Then you and Erica had sprinted back into the Creel House, where Jason had headed when Andy went after you. The attic door had been locked once you reached it, but the two of you had managed to break it open and make it up to where Lucas and Max had been.

“Lucas!” Erica called out her brother’s name and you froze at the top of the stairs because Lucas was sobbing on the ground with Max pulled into his lap. Her limbs were snapped, twisted abnormally out of place and sticking out in directions that they shouldn’t, and her eyes were glazed over in a pure white, blood dripping down her cheeks.

Lucas had spun around immediately to face you both, screaming out, “We need a doctor! Call an ambulance! Hurry! Call an ambulance!”

And when Erica had rushed back downstairs, likely to find a neighbor or the closest possible phone, but you were completely stuck in place, staring at the girl you had grown up with, one of your best friends, as she sobbed in her boyfriend’s arms telling him that she was scared and that she wasn’t ready to die.

You were crying, your body shaking uncontrollably as you stumbled over to them, trembling as you dropped to your knees and practically begged her not to slip away.

“Erica, help!” Lucas shouted out, his voice so full of pain that you couldn’t breathe as you sobbed, gripping Max’s hand in yours as you pleaded with her to stay. But it didn’t work. Max died in his arms.

And then the Earth split open, a gate forming and growing. Lucas pulled Max away and you both scrambled to the side, watching as the gate ripped Jason in two and continued to spread further away from the Creel House and through Hawkins.

Then, after over a minute had passed, Max’s heart had started beating again, just enough that she was still alive. But Eddie wasn’t so lucky, he had died in the Upside Down, sacrificing himself to save Dustin.

Three days later, Max was in a coma in Hawkins Memorial Hospital, Mike, Will, El and Jonathan all arrived in Hawkins again, and you were helping Dustin, Robin and Steve volunteering in the post ‘earthquake’ aid and suddenly not having a boyfriend, or your crush not liking you back, didn’t feel like as a big of a deal as it had before.

And, somehow, life managed to return to normal after that. Well, something close to normal.

Hawkins was now under a government mandated quarantine, where the military crawled around every inch of the town, keeping you blocked off from the rest of the world. 

You and your friends were starting your junior year in high school, except for El, who was hiding from the military, and Max was still in a coma and had been for the entire 18 months that had passed.

The crawls were new. Every couple of weeks Hopper would sneak into the Upside Down with the military through the massive gate in the middle of Hawkins, right at the library, and would search for Vecna while Dustin and Steve tracked him from your side and Mike and Lucas kept watch from the nearby church.

But after 18 entire long months, you found nothing. Not even the slightest hint that Vecna was anywhere near, and after over 30 crawls it was like the entire Upside Down had been searched from top to bottom and absolutely nothing was found.

Not until what would be later known as your last crawl, the one where Dustin didn’t show up and you were thrown into the Squawk van with Steve and had to practically beg for Jonathan to come along for ‘help’ when really you didn’t want to be left alone with Steve.

Your crush hadn’t faded, despite the fact that you didn’t see him as often as you used to. Not when Dustin was acting differently and seemed to be avoiding him half of the time. But you listened to the WSQK radio broadcasts every day, mostly for Robin’s DJ-ing and to listen out for any hidden codes about crawls, but also because you knew Steve was the one behind the station’s many sound effects in the background of the broadcasts.

You were now 17 years old, almost an adult, and you hadn’t gotten over the crush on the guy who was basically your best friend’s older brother that had formed back when you were 14. You still had absolutely no experience in anything even slightly romantic, and it was killing you.

But the crawl in the Squawk van had been even more awkward with Jonathan around, because then they argued about Nancy, of course they had, while you sat in the back of the van awkwardly while thinking about Hopper’s signal, which you had lost when the van broke down.

At one point, Steve had spun around to face you, gesturing to Jonathan and asking why you had brought him along because, “Byers is a total buzzkill’. Jonathan had rolled his eyes and called Steve a name, and Steve had mumbled a bland insult back, and it almost felt like you were at home, listening to your parents doing anything but getting a divorce.

Just seconds after Steve had managed to get the van running again, finally, Dustin showed up. His face was completely busted and he had blood leaking from his nose and down his chin.

That just resulted in another argument, this time between Steve and Dustin, while you searched for Hopper’s signal again, only to come up with nothing, other than a strange noise Dustin had brushed off as nothing important because it wasn’t Hopper.

That same night, Holly Wheeler had been taken from her own home by a Demogorgon and her parents had been attacked and had almost died. El had followed the monster into the Upside Down to try and catch up to them and save Holly.

Sometime early the next morning, long after the sun had risen, you had arrived back at the Squawk, where Will then explained that he had a connection to the hive mind again, and to Vecna, and he knew that Vecna was going after another kid from Holly’s class next, a boy named Derek Turnbow.

Mike and Nancy shared the information they had learned at the hospital, that Vecna had stalked Holly long before she was taken, but had appeared as Henry and pretended to be her friend, not someone to be afraid of.

So then you were all coming up with a plan to try and save Derek, and this plan involved drugging and kidnapping the kid and his entire family.

Lucas and Mike recruited Erica, because her best friend Tina was Derek’s older sister, meanwhile you were on the McCorkle farm watching Dustin destroy Steve’s car by affixing the telemetry tracker to the top of the Beamer and crushing Steve’s heart.

You couldn’t help feel bad for him and the way he frowned for the rest of the afternoon, wincing every time he caught a glimpse of the car.

That night, the plan went well. The Turnbow family were all successfully knocked out by the pie Erica made using benzos that Robin and Will stole from the hospital, and while Joyce, Robin, Will and Erica took the family away to the farm, the rest of you set up traps around the house in preparation.

Watching Steve use a chainsaw to cut open a giant hole in the living room floor might’ve been the highlight for you, well, until you had helped him set up a trap outside Derek’s bedroom door using some wood planks, nails and a trip wire. Once the trap had been set, Steve had given you a high five that had genuinely sent a jolt of electricity through your body and a smile etched itself onto your face.

When the Demogorgon arrived in Derek’s room, only to find a dummy in his bed instead, it was your and Lucas’s job to pelt the thing with water balloons filled with acetone so it was guaranteed to catch a flame once Jonathan threw a flare at it.

Once the Demogorgon flipped using a small gate it had made in the living room, Nancy and Jonathan rushed outside to join Steve and Dustin in the Beamer as they chased the Demogorgon, hoping it would lead them to Holly.

Later, when you, Mike and Lucas made it to the farm on your bikes, telling the others about how you saw soldiers loading Debbie Miller and a bunch of other kids Holly’s age onto a bus, Dustin, Steve, Nancy and Jonathan were nowhere to be found because Steve drove his car through a gate and right into the Upside Down.

Will told you all about what he had learned in the hive mind, how many kids Vecna wanted to take, and now the military had all of those kids in one place in an attempt to protect them. But you and your friends knew the only way to really protect them was to get them out of Hawkins and out of Vecna’s reach, which meant it was time to make a new plan.

This time, Robin made it, basing her entire plan on the film The Great Escape. But there were a few key pieces of information you needed. How would you know where the washroom was to know where to dig up from the tunnels below Hawkins? How would you know which kids were even being targeted by Vecna?

Mike’s solution was to send Derek Turnbow, the kid you had managed to save, into the MAC-Z and into the barracks with the other kids.

And the plan had almost worked, until a burst pipe led to you all getting caught before you had gotten all of the kids out and into the tunnels. Robin and Lucas took half the kids to Murray, but the rest of you were captured by the military. 

Of course there was arguing, a fight started to break out after one soldier hit Derek on the back of the head, both you and Mike immediately jumping in to defend him, but everything stopped when Will fell to the ground.

Joyce rushed over immediately while you and Mike stayed with the kids, who were absolutely terrified. Will could sense the hive mind. Demogorgons were coming for the kids. 

They burst through the plates and immediately began attacking the soldiers, who were shooting at them left and right. Gunshots filled the air, echoing through what should’ve been a quiet night, and flames burst around the military base.

You hadn’t really realized how much you had grown up over the last few years until you and Mike were leading the group of kids around the base, protecting them from the monsters, shielding them the same way Steve, Nancy and Jonathan used to do with you and your friends.

But it was all for nothing, because the Demogorgons took the kids in the end. Vecna himself had come through the gate in the MAC-Z and when a blast of flames sent you, Mike and the kids flying back, you were knocked out.

When you came to, Mike was pulling you to your feet, only for you both to flinch back when a Demogorgon jumped towards you.

You had raised your arms to cover your face in a weak attempt at a shield, but no impact was made. The Demogorgon had frozen midair, and how? Will had his arm outstretched towards it, keeping it frozen in the air, using his own powers to stop the Demogorgon.

You were absolutely bewildered, your mouth falling open in surprise, having to blink a few times just to confirm you weren’t still unconscious and that this was actually happening. Mike, on the other hand, was staring at Will in absolute awe. 

Will lifted the Demogorgon into the air and snapped its limbs one by one before snapping its neck, similar to the way Vecna had killed Chrissy and the other teens, and had almost killed Max the year before. When its body crumpled to the ground, Will fell to his knees and wiped the trickle of blood that had formed under his nose.

Beside you, Mike had started to smile. The look on his face wasn’t something you quite knew how to describe at the time, but looking back later, you knew that was a look of love.

Back at the Squawk, the group had to come up with yet another plan to be able to find the others in the Upside Down and come up with a plan, because Lucas was sure Vecna’s plan to end the world was going to take place on November 6th, and that was just a day away.

Both Lucas and Erica came up with two separate plans, Erica’s involved creating a new telemetry tracker and finding Mr. Clarke and getting him to help, while Lucas wanted to Frankenstein one of the dead Demogorgons to link Will back to the hive mind.

You ended up going with Erica and Murray to find and recruit Mr. Clarke to help you, and it didn’t take much once you told him Dustin was in trouble and you needed his help. 

The four of you spent all night recreating the telemetry tracker until you tracked Dustin’s location to Hawkins Lab, though, in the Upside Down. Of course, Mr. Clarke didn’t know that and assumed he had left or something similar.

The others had arrived not long after, and when you saw El, you moved forward to hug her, glad that she was home safe and no longer in the Upside Down, even if Dustin and the others were still stuck.

“Mr. Clarke, thanks for the assist.” Mike spoke, walking forward to shake your former teacher’s hand as you stood by his side again.

“Don’t thank me yet.” Mr. Clarke had replied. “We successfully trilaterated Dustin’s position here, to precisely where I stand now.”

“But by the time we arrived, he was MIA.” Erica continued.

“Well, he wouldn’t be precisely here. He’d be under.” Robin pointed out, crossing her arms, and you nodded along.

Mr. Clarke tilted his head in confusion as he looked at Robin. “Sorry?”

Mike’s head then snapped towards you. “You didn’t tell him?”

“Told me what?” Mr. Clarke asked you.

“It… slipped my mind?” You excused, speaking to Mike, but your attention was stolen a moment later. “Oh, my god.”

“Holy shit.” Erica spoke from beside you as her gaze also landed on Max, who was being wheeled towards you all in a wheelchair, but she was very much alive and no longer in her coma.

“Holy shit.” Max echoed and your face lit up as you let out a surprised chuckle.

“Max!” You hurried over and she grinned as you crouched down to hug her, but the moment was cut short by Murray yelling that he got Dustin’s signal on his walkie and you all rushed down to his level.

After a brief conversation about Holly was shared between Mike and Dustin over the walkies, El ripped up one of the plates covering the rifts in the ground and you all, except for Lucas and Max, went into the Upside Down.

You were all calling out the names of your missing friends while you were trying to take in the fact that you were in the Upside Down for the very first time before you heard Dustin calling out your name, and then Mike’s. You both rushed towards him as he barrelled over.

“Jesus, it’s good to see you guys.” He sighed in relief, throwing his arms around you both and hugging you tight.

As you hugged him though, your eyes drifted to Steve as he approached behind him, standing off to the side from Nancy and Jonathan. It took a moment for you to notice how miserable they looked, and another moment for you to realize that Holly wasn’t with them like you had thought.

Turns out Vecna had pulled her into the literal sky and she had disappeared into the clouds. And you and your friends needed to save her before Vecna likely ended the world on that very same night.

So you all went back to the Squawk to share new information and come up with the final plan to defeat Vecna.

Dustin stood in front of you all with a black marker in hand, drawing on the glass windows of the recording booth as he explained something he had learned in the Upside Down version of Hawkins Lab.

“We’ve always the Upside Down was another dimension opened by Brenner, but it turns out it’s actually a bridge.” Dustin added two long lines to his diagram, representing the bridge. “More specifically, an interdimensional bridge that rips through space-time. It is wildly unstable, but held together by exotic matter, which we found dead center right above the lab. In theoretical physics, they call this type of bridge a–”

“Wormhole.” Both Erica and Mr. Clarke finished in sync, and Dustin pointed at them. You shared a glance with Max, who was sitting beside you in her wheelchair.

“And this wormhole connects Hawkins to here, another world that I’ve coined the Abyss.” Dustin explained.

“Any particular reason?” Robin asked and Mr. Clarke leaned forward in his seat.

“A realm of pure chaos and evil.” He spoke and Robin looked towards him.

“I’m sorry?”

“D&D.” You, Mr. Clarke, Erica, Mike, Will, Lucas and Dustin all answered at once.

“Jesus Christ.” Hopper groaned.

Dustin went on to explain how he believed the Abyss was the true home to the Demogorgon and the Mind Flayer and all of the monsters, and that Henry Creel had been sent there by Eleven years ago, before Dr. Brenner had her find him and created the bridge between the two worlds.

That had explained a lot over the last few years, like why every single crawl had come up empty, because Vecna hadn’t been in the Upside Down, he had been in the Abyss.

Will came up to the conclusion that the reason he was taking kids like Holly into the Abyss was because the minds of children were weaker and easier to mold, like he had done with Will himself, and he was going to use them to amplify his abilities and move worlds. To draw the Abyss and Hawkins closer and merge them together.

Will jumped forward to draw something on Dustin’s diagram and you shifted your body away from Max, who had just been talking, to then face him. In doing so, your arm brushed against Steve’s leg, and you muttered a quiet apology but didn’t look up at him where he was sitting on the back of the couch you were seated on.

Then you were working out a plan to get up to the Abyss to try and stop Vecna before he could draw the worlds together.

After Hopper’s first suggestion of a helicopter, which then resulted in the rest of you telling him that it wouldn’t work, and a rather crude comment about Steve made by Robin that made your eyes go wide, Steve himself was the one to come up with the plan.

He had jumped up from his place on the couch beside you and you had watched him as he walked a few steps away, then stopped, his brain clearly moving faster than his mouth could before shouting that you wouldn’t need a magic bean to make a beanstalk and climb up to the Abyss like some fairytale.

His idea was to use the Squawk radio tower in the Upside Down as a way into the rifts, letting Vecna draw your worlds together just enough that you could all make it inside before El would stop him from drawing them closer.

It was genius, and while the others added a few more small details to help, Dustin was the one who finalized it, suggesting for you all to leave a bomb at the exotic matter that would detonate when you left the Upside Down and destroy the bridge for good.

Then everyone was gearing up, dressing in old combat gear, gathering weapons, and Mike built the detonator for the bomb using a record player and a minifigurine. 

You sat with Lucas on a table in the basement as he adjusted his giant slingshot, a great improvement from his old Wrist Rocket he used against the Demogorgon when you were younger.

You were filling more water balloons for him with the flammable liquid inside the unlabelled canister you had found in the Squawk basement, but every so often you’d glance over to Steve in that same leather jacket he had worn the first time, the material stretching along his shoulders, and a backwards cap on his head, a small tuft of hair sticking out from the front, as he walked away from the cabinet in the corner that usually held the weapons, specifically the guns.

He held a small handgun until Nancy approached him, questioning whether or not he had used a gun before. Of course, he hadn’t, and you forced yourself to look away, only to find Lucas smirking at you.

“What?” You asked.

“You’re, like, in love with Steve.” He whispered with an amused laugh and you shushed him.

“Shut up, no I’m not.” You scoffed, then glanced towards Steve again, watching him follow Dustin through the basement before you met Lucas’s eyes again and saw he was still smirking. “Shut up.”

Getting into the Upside Down was the easiest part of the plan. Murray’s huge Bradley’s Big Buy truck was large enough to hold all of you as it charged into the MAC-Z right through the front gate, and Hopper took down any soldiers shooting at you from the inside, having sneaked in through the tunnels like he would before a crawl.

Nancy and her rifle climbed up the ladder in the middle of the truck and stuck out the hole at the top, where a Demogorgon had ripped the metal open, only to rain fire on any other soldiers around trying to stop you.

Once Hopper was inside the truck and the truck had successfully made it through the MAC-Z gate, the ride got a little bumpier.

“Jesus Christ.” Steve wobbled on his feet a little from beside you.

“Everybody alright? Everybody okay? You alright?” He asked Steve, who nodded, before looking around and asking the others. “Everybody alright?”

Steve looked down at you, where you looked a little shaken as you blinked a few times, and his face scrunched into one of concern.

“You sure you’re okay, kid?” He asked and you looked up, eyes going wide when you realized he was talking to you, as if it were something out of the ordinary.

You nodded before forcing yourself to speak. “Yeah. Thanks, Steve.”

Then he had reached over and patted your shoulder for just a moment before leaning back against the wall. He smiled at you, and you returned the gesture, though you had a feeling you were blushing before you looked to your other side and reached for El’s hand.

Once you reached the lab, Hopper, El, Murray, and El’s ‘sister’ Kali all left the truck, and Steve moved to the front to drive the rest of the way to the Squawk.

You hated the climb up the ladder on the tower, you weren’t the biggest fan of heights, and once you had made it up to the top, you, Lucas and Dustin all stood together and stared out at the Upside Down Hawkins skyline.

“It’s pretty damn spectacular.” Dustin had commented, bumping your shoulder with his.

“Yeah,” You agreed breathlessly, staring out at the dark, yet amazing parallel to your hometown. “It is.”

“It’s almost too bad we have to blow it all up.” Lucas added and you had glanced his way.

“Is it though?”

It wasn’t long after that when you could hear, and see, the Abyss as it descended towards you all, and the plan seemed to be going okay until Lucas noticed that the top of the tower wasn’t lining up with the rifts, which only meant bad news.

El wasn’t able to stop the Abyss fast enough and the planet above you came into contact with the needle, snapping it off.

You all jumped out of the way as it fell, gripping onto the edges and each other. The needle broke off one end of the tower’s railing, and it took Steve with it.

Both you and Dustin shouted his name, watching as he dangled from the edge of the tower, only gripping on with one hand. If he slipped, he would fall and die. 

And then he did slip, and he fell. But not far enough, because Jonathan caught him. He grabbed onto Steve’s hand and pulled him back up onto the tower, saving his life.

The moment he was back on the platform, Dustin charged forward and pulled Steve into a hug. You had almost wanted to follow him, but instead hugged Robin, who was sobbing in relief that she hadn’t just watched her best friend fall to his death.

The Abyss was strange, it was almost like a desert. A vast, empty desert. It seemed too empty, and too quiet, but eventually you found where Vecna was keeping the kids, inside of a ginormous spider-like monster. The Mind Flayer in a much larger, physical body.

And while El fought Vecna inside of the thing, you and your friends attacked the monster from the outside, shooting it, stabbing it, lighting it on fire, until it eventually collapsed to the ground.

Nancy was the first to rush inside in search of Holly, and the rest of you joined her a moment later, Mike rushing forward to reunite with his sisters. The rest of you helped the other 11 kids from where they were up in the spires on the wall. They were all confused, and dirty, covered in some kind of slimy residue as Mind Flayer particles expelled themselves from their mouths.

As you helped a young girl brush herself off, telling her you would help get her home, you could hear gurgling coming from somewhere nearby. You turned to see Vecna, though impaled on a sharp spike of some kind, was still alive.

Joyce dealt with him, decapitating him with her axe. The moment you watched his head tumble to the ground, rolling for a moment before coming to a stop, it felt like a weight was lifted from your shoulders immediately.

Soon you were all heading back home, having climbed back down the radio tower and all cramped into the back of the bus. Steve and Robin were in the front, and you were squashed between Dustin and El as you all talked, almost celebrating the fact that you had won.

Everything descended into chaos when you returned through the gate. The tires of the truck were flattened by spikes and everyone was hauled from the vehicle by soldiers in a flurry of chaos.

You were pressed against the side of the truck, El to your left and Mike to your right, as soldiers surrounded you all. There was yelling, arguing as soldiers patted you all down and searched you all.

Dr. Kay approached El, who glared in response, wincing at the loud radio feedback sound coming from the speakers around the base.

But then the bomb went off inside the Upside Down, and everyone watched the wind whipping around inside as the buildings collapsed and then… it was gone. The gate disappeared, leaving nothing but the crumbling destruction of the library.

After that, you and your friends were all brought in for hours of questioning by the military and Dr. Kay, asking about Henry, El, Kali, the Upside Down, the Demogorgons, why you had taken the kids, why you had gone into the Upside Down. They asked you about everything from the moment Will went missing and you found El in the woods to that point in time where you were being interrogated.

And, eventually, you were all let go and expected to go on with your lives like normal. With the Upside Down gone and Henry dead, El had lost her powers again and now the military had no reason to be after her, not after everything had gone down and she had stopped Vecna.

While it did take a long time, eventually things did get back to normal, as much as they could’ve at least.

–

The morning of your high school graduation you woke up with more energy, and more anxiety, than you had had in a long time.

You went through your morning routine like normal, waking up to a silent house because neither of your parents liked being around each other, or you, before getting dressed.

You had nothing to do all day before graduation, no boyfriend to celebrate with, no family around who wanted to take photos of you. You had the day to yourself.

So you turned on the radio and sat down on the couch with a book, listening as Robin Buckley presented the Squawk’s morning broadcast for the first time since Jimmy ‘Fast Hands’ Lee had returned to Hawkins and she had gone off to college.

At least that was something you could look forward to – college. You couldn’t wait to get out of Hawkins, to do more with your life. You were going to study to become a teacher, something you had wanted to do probably since middle school when you and your friends had all idolized Mr. Clarke.

A burp sound effect playing at the wrong time caused you to look up at the radio for a moment, brows furrowed before a whip cracking sound effect played and Robin’s voice came in.

“There we go. Sorry about that. My partner in crime ditched me.” Robin explained and your face fell for a moment. “But, well, as far as excuses go, he had a pretty good one.”

She was, of course, talking about Steve, who now coached the middle school baseball team. He was the only one of the older teens that hadn’t left Hawkins to go to college when the quarantine had been lifted.

At the mention of Steve, your stomach had flipped uncomfortably. 18 months had passed, and while your crush hadn’t faded, something had happened that now just made you feel guilty for liking him.

Steve had a girlfriend now, a woman named Kristen who he had been dating for a couple of months by this time, and it killed a part of you every time you thought about it.

But that was another reason why you were excited to get out of Hawkins, you would leave Steve behind, maybe meet a guy at college and finally move on from your dumb crush and have a relationship of your own.

That afternoon after you made it to the graduation, everything felt too real. You stood with your friends, dressed in your orange caps and gowns as guests all took their seats, and then the music played, queuing you all to take your seats so the ceremony could begin.

As you walked to your seats, lined up alphabetically like you had rehearsed, you looked around the bleachers to see who you could recognize.

There was Jonathan filming the event off to the side, Joyce, Hopper and El, the Wheelers (including Nancy), Lucas’s parents, Dustin’s mom, Mr. Clarke and Murray, Robin, and Steve.

He was dressed in a suit with a pair of sunglasses on, but as you all walked out, his head turned away from Robin to watch you all. You raised a hand and gave a small return, and he grinned, both him and Robin waving back and you smiled, looking down at your shoes before taking your seat.

Dustin’s valedictorian speech started off normal, he mentioned how he had wanted a normal childhood, but that didn’t really happen, due to obvious reasons. He went on to mention D&D, talking about bad chaos and good chaos. He mentioned making friends with people who were never supposed to be his friends, and how he had seen the same happen to others. He talked about how he was now a better person because of his friends.

But then, towards the end of his speech, something shifted. He called Principal Higgins a square, took off his robe and ripped open his shirt to reveal a t-shirt reading ‘Hellfire Lives’. You cheered loudly for your friend, and so did the others as he went on to say, “Screw the school. Screw the system. Screw conformity. Screw everything and everyone trying to hold you back and tear us apart, because this, this is our year!”

And as you all cheered for him, Dustin snatched his diploma from Principal Higgins and flipped the old man off, just like Eddie had said he would your freshman year.

After the ceremony, you and your friends ran through the sea of orange robes to find him.

“Dustin!” You all called out upon spotting him and the four of you hugged him tight.

“You’re a madman. You’re an absolute madman.” Mike said first as Dustin shook his shoulders with an excited laugh.

“Higgins totally shit his pants.” Lucas added with a laugh.

“Yeah, what’s he gonna do, expel me?” Dustin asked.

“You’re crazy.” Lucas told him, but before the conversation could continue, a voice cut in.

“Hey.”

You turned to see Stacey Albright, the same girl who had once teased you at the Snow Ball, approaching you, Dustin, Lucas, Mike and Will.

“Hey, Stacey.” Dustin greeted her with a grin and an attempt at speaking casually, but your smile fell just a little.

“I just wanted to say what you did up there was pretty badass.” She complimented Dustin, and for a moment you thought she wasn’t going to be serious. But, then again, everyone had matured since middle school.

“Oh. Thanks. I was kind of just going for like a bit of like a Belushi thing. But if he was like in a Hughes film.” Dustin scratched his eye and you shared a glance with Will, who was standing to your left. “But I don’t know. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah. No, totally.” She told him and there was a bit of an awkward pause where she went to turn around and walk away.

“Why did I say that?” Dustin whispered to you and you shrugged, but then Stacey had turned back.

“Hey, so I’m having a party later tonight. You guys should come.” She told you all, then made direct eye contact with you and smiled. Not in a teasing way, but more genuine. You did your best to smile back before she walked away.

“Did that just happen?” Dustin asked Will the moment she left, and the boy chuckled in response.

“Should we go?” Will asked, looking around the group, his eyes lingering on Mike.

“Is that rhetorical?” Lucas asked back, because the answer was obvious.

“No. Screw that. I got a better idea.” Mike stated.

His better idea had been a D&D campaign, and so the seven of you – You, Dustin, Lucas, Mike, Will, El and Max – all cramped around the table in Mike’s basement to play D&D until dinner, laughing and reminiscing about the last six years of your lives and the chaos you had all survived.

But after dinner?

“We still have time to go to Stacey’s party after this.” Lucas had said first, checking his watch by the Wheeler family’s front door.

“Oh, my god, please.” Dustin clamped his hands together and gave Mike his best puppy dog eyes. “Come on, dude, let’s go.”

Mike rolled his eyes. “Seriously?”

“Come on, Mike, don’t be a party pooper.” Max had teased, making El giggle from where she stood by Dustin’s side.

El and Dustin had gotten closer over the last year or so, after she and Mike had finally broken up for good. She had, obviously, been very behind on school, and was currently a grade behind you all, having to take summer school to catch up, but Dustin had been tutoring her and helping her with any subjects she had been struggling with, and now sometimes she hung out with Dustin more than you did.

Another recent development had been with Will and Mike. About a year ago, Will told you, Dustin, Lucas, Max and El that he was gay. He said he had only told his mom, his brother, Mike and Robin before that. Now, Mike hadn’t told you anything, but sometimes you caught the two of them sending each other glances across the room like they were the only two people around.

Will turned to face Mike. “Yeah, Mike, come on. It’ll be fun.”

Then Mike sighed, dropping his head back with a groan before throwing his arms up in the air in front of himself. “Fine.”

You had all walked to the party at Stacey’s house, and once you arrived she, as well as many others, were happy to see you all there.

It was like years of bullying and cliques and labels in school didn’t matter anymore, and that felt weird. It looked like the entire senior class was there.

Kids were high-fiving Dustin as they passed him, complimenting him on his speech loudly, raising their voices to be heard over the thumping bass of the music practically vibrating the house.

You and your friends decided to just let go and have fun; talking to people you usually wouldn’t, drinking alcohol, drinking a lot of alcohol. At one point you and Dustin had started teasing Lucas and Max as they made out in the corner of the room, only for Lucas to let go of Max and start chasing Dustin through the house, leaving you, Max and El bursting into a fit of laughter in the corner.

But the later into the night you got, the more drunk you had all become, and eventually you were all collapsed onto a couch together, El giggling as she played with Dustin’s curls while Max rested her head on your shoulder, her legs thrown across Lucas’s lap. Mike and Will were sitting just a little too close for it to not mean anything by your other side.

Then someone mentioned being tired, someone else started to get sad about the fact you would all be going away to separate colleges soon, and then you were all debating who to call to pick you up.

Will called Jonathan first, who said he could come pick up his brother and sister and one other person, which ended up being Mike.

You, Dustin, Lucas and Max had to find a different ride home, so Dustin went to make a call.

–

Steve had gotten home a couple of hours earlier after making plans to meet up with his friends in Robin’s weird uncle’s house in Philadelphia once a month, and he had been stretched out on the sofa, his arm around Kristen, his girlfriend, as the two of them watched a movie together.

When his phone rang, he furrowed his brows in confusion before getting up and crossing the room to pick it up, assuming that maybe Robin had left something behind in his truck earlier.

Instead he found Dustin on the other end, his words slurred slightly as he asked for Steve to come pick him up.

“Are you drunk, Henderson?” Steve asked, crossing one arm around his torso as he leaned back against the kitchen counter. Kristen had poked her head out of the living room to see what was going on, and he waved her off.

“Pfft, not even. Just, like, a little.” Dustin replied, though his words said otherwise.

“Alright, bud.” Steve chuckled, shaking his head. “Where are you?”

“What’s the address?” He could hear Dustin ask someone else on the other end before he recited Stacey’s address. “Oh, and can you pick up the others too?”

Of course, Steve couldn’t fit four teenagers into his truck, which meant he had to borrow Kristen’s car to go pick you all up, and when he arrived at the address he found the four of you seated on the curb, the party still going on in the house behind you.

Dustin was already half passed out, leaning against Lucas, but he grinned when Steve approached.

“Steve!” He cheered before nudging you and tugging on Lucas’s arm. “Guys, Steve’s here!”

“Steve!” The rest of you chorused the cheer, your face lighting up immediately, and Steve laughed before offering Dustin a hand to lift him up.

While Dustin, Lucas and Max all piled into the backseat, you were left with the passenger seat. And while your friends passed out almost immediately, all leaning against each other as they snored softly in the backseat, you were wide awake.

Something by Queen played on the radio, faint but still clear enough for you to understand every word Freddie Mercury sang as Steve tapped along to the beat on the steering wheel.

“Thanks for picking us up, Steve.” You spoke, half mumbling, as you shifted in your seat, no longer staring out the window and now facing him.

Steve shrugged. “No problem. You know I’d do anything for you guys.”

You hummed before looking around the car. “This isn’t your truck.”

“Nope.” Steve agreed, taking a look around himself. “It’s, uh, my girlfriend’s car.”

“Right.” You had replied, then sunk back into your seat, your eyes fluttering shut a moment later. Steve exhaled out his nose lightly in a gentle laugh.

He glanced over at you, then to your other friends in the rearview mirror before you spoke again.

“I love you, Steve.” You stated, still half-asleep, but your voice was clearer than it had been before.

He smiled, flicking on his blinker as he turned a corner on the dark, empty streets of Hawkins. “I love you too, kid.”

“No.” You had sighed, and Steve glanced your way again, watching how each street lamp illuminated your face for a few seconds as he passed them. “I mean, I love you like… like how you love Kristen.”

He stopped completely, the car slowing slightly, and he frowned as he looked your way again, one eyebrow raised. You what?

“You love her, right?” You asked and Steve coughed awkwardly.

“Well, yeah.”

“Good. She’s nice.” You mumbled. “You deserve that.”

Steve didn’t know how to reply. He had never felt so awkward in his life as he glanced your way.

“You don’t love me.” He told you, like he could decide that. Like saying that erased any feelings you might’ve had for him.

“Yes, I do.” You sighed again, turning to face the window again. “But, it’s fine. I get it. And I’m glad you’re happy, and once I go to college I’m gonna find a boy and he’s gonna love me and I’m gonna forget all about you, so it’s fine.”

And then you went silent for the rest of the car ride. When Steve pulled up outside of Dustin’s house, you shot him a kind smile, thanked him, and left the car like nothing had happened, waking Dustin up before the two of you headed off to the front door with nothing more than a goodbye.

And Steve sat there for a moment, watching the two of you make it into the house before he just stopped, thinking over the interaction he just had with you, extremely confused, because you were in love with him? Since when had you loved him?

The next time he saw you was a week later at one of his baseball games when you and your friends had all shown up to watch.

You were acting like nothing had happened, teasing him with Max like normal, laughing with your friends, acting like you hadn’t drunkenly confessed your love to him a week earlier.

Naturally, Steve assumed you were too drunk to remember the interaction. Hell, he assumed the entire interaction had only happened because you were drunk, because Steve didn’t think you loved him.

But you did love him, and you didn’t forget about the interaction.

Neither did Steve.

–

a/n: holy shit this was wayyyy longer than i had anticipated uhhh no wonder it took me literal months to write omfg. anyway the rest of the series is set in 1993, and the next chapters will be shorter i swear. um, i hope you liked this and the few changes i made lol. i’m excited for this series!!

The crimson sky stretched endlessly overhead, flakes of ash clouding your vision.

“Steve?” You called, pushing yourself up.

There was no answer at first, until a distant yell echoed behind you. Your stomach dropped unexpectedly, you turned around as another cry rang out, abruptly cut off by a guttural groan.

Steve was on the ground, demobats swarmed him in a frenzy, shrill screeches pieced your ears as they clawed at him. He was pinned against the ground when one of them wrapped their tail around his neck, choking him tightly.

His face was twisted in pain as he tugged at no avail, something inside you snapped. The others hadn’t come through yet, and when you looked back at the portal, it had weaved itself shut.

You charged forward, picking up the largest piece of bark you could find off the ground, and then lunged at the bat. You swung again, until it finally released its hold on his bruising neck.

Your chest heaved, staring wide eyed at his form beneath you, there was blood trickling from dozens of scratches across his torso and back, his eyes closed for a second.

A weak groan escaped him, and you don’t know why relief hit you so hard. You could’ve risked your own life saving him, or you could’ve let the bats finish what they’d started.

His eyes fluttered open, and they found your face immediately, brows pinching in confusion. “You came…” his voice was rough, speaking through gritted teeth.

You let out a laugh, trying to mask your own panic. “Yeah, it would be a shame if the bats killed you before I could.” You shrugged.

His eyes flickered around your face briefly, before the pain of his injuries caught up to him. Steve winced as he stood up, and you knew you had to stop the bleeding soon, or before the bats returned for revenge.

“There.” You pointed, spotting a cave in the distance that would be good to hide in for now.

Steve grunted with each step, leaning his back against the wall while you stood in front of him, staring at his naked chest.

He paused his heavy breathing to look at you. “You like something you see?” He mocked, you rolled your eyes, even in the middle of bleeding out he would still think someone’s flirting with him.

“No, Harrington. I just saved your life, don’t make me regret it.” You snapped. “Just sit still.”

Without hesitation, you ripped off a long piece of fabric from your own shirt. There was no way to clean his cuts or properly bandage them, so you had to use what worked in the meantime.

“Woah, woah, what are you doing?” Steve asked as you moved your hands around his back.

“Making sure you don’t die.” You responded, keeping your eyes on his wounds.

When you started tying the fabric tightly, Steve suddenly reached out to grip your wrist, stopping you. “You’re shaking.” He whispered, you met his dark brown eyes, swallowing around the lump in your throat.

“Why did you follow me?” Steve asked, almost fearing your response.

Your eyes left his face, drifting over the scratches carved into his chest. “Because—I don’t know why.” You shook your head, speaking honestly. “I thought,” you huffed. “I thought I was already too late.”

The words hung heavily between you, you don’t why you said them either, but with the way Steve was looking at you they had just fallen out. Slowly his fingertips brushed your chin, lifting your face only an inch high enough to reconnect your gaze.

“You weren’t.” He said. Your breath hitched, before you could over think it, your body moved with a mind of its own, closing the distance between you.

The kiss was passionate, communicating all the feelings you didn’t know how to say out loud to him. Steve froze for a half a second purely from shock, before kissing you back as equally as desperate.

His hand gripped your jaw, but you didn’t pull away, only spoke against his mouth. “You drive me insane.” It was a confession in itself, one that only the two of you understood.

Steve couldn’t move as he wanted, groaning in your mouth as he spun you around, pinning you back against the cave wall, you gasped the force. “Fuck, you don’t even know how I feel about you.” He rasped roughly, lowering to suck open mouth kisses on your neck.

“Then show me, Steve. Show me how much you hate me.” You urged him.

He growled, suddenly using his new found source of adrenaline to grab your thighs and lift you off the ground, you wrapped your legs around his hips. “Steve! Shit—” his hand slipped between your lower bodies, thumb brushing over your clit as your back arched into him, craving for more.

“Yeah, you like that, huh baby?” His eyes were ablaze, and at your incoherent moans he increased the pace of his motions.

Just as you were on the brink of ecstasy, Steve ripped his hand away, knowing exactly what he was doing. “What the fuck, Steve?” You screamed, staring at him in betrayal.

“You’re gonna cum on my cock.” He said while unzipping his jeans and pushing down his boxers enough for his cock to bounce against his bare stomach, you almost drooled at the sight.

You realized that the fact he was hung made up for his horrible personality, you held onto his biceps as he poked at your entrance. “Stop fucking teasing me.” You groaned, pulling at the ends of his hair.

Steve laughed. “Just trying to make the most of how desperate you are for me.” Before you could open your mouth to formulate a response, you were cut off with a moan as he pushed the entirety of his length into you in one thrust.

“Fuuuck.” Steve's head dropped against your shoulder, instantly setting a rough pace that had the sounds of your skin slapping echoing all across the upside down.

“Mmm—S-Steve!” If you had known the “king Steve” title wasn’t just a joke, you would’ve fucked him a long time ago.

“Thats it—that’s it, just take my cock, doing so well f’me.” He grunted, and when you felt your thighs begin to shake embarrassingly quick, Steve only went harder, until both of you were thrown over the edge.

“Oh, fuck.” You whimpered, his cum filling you to the brim. Steve panted while he let you down back onto your weak legs, running a hand through his hair.

“I don’t wanna hate you anymore.” He shook his head, jaw tight. “I’m tired of pretending what’s between us isn’t real, even if we’re stuck here, and I almost died. I can’t keep lying that I don’t love you.”

Your breath caught on its way out, truthfully, you couldn’t come up with a single reason in that moment why you hated him. There had been a reason why you followed him into the world you feared most, you just had been too scared to admit it to yourself.

“I can’t keep lying that I don’t love you too.” You cracked a smile, and Steve laughed, bringing you back into his arms.

Lately, Steve felt like you had a hard time listening.

Whether it was about his suggestion during a movie night or his options for dinner – you were arguing with him about it.

Tonight’s no exception.

Except this time, Steve’s patience is nowhere to be found.

Steve has your back pressed against his chest in the small guest bathroom of his house. There’s a party raging downstairs – all for Robin’s birthday but it’s the farthest thing from your mind right now.

Your pink dressed is shoved up and bunched over your hips. Steve kicked your feet apart seconds after he pinned you to the counter and your lower stomach presses harshly to the counter top.

He has one arm wrapped around your waist and the other snaked between you and the counter – his fingers nestled deep in your cunt. Your head is heavy against his shoulder as he murmurs into your ear.

You’ve pushed his buttons all night, riling him up every chance you got, and twenty minutes ago he dragged you into the bathroom and turned your attitude into complete submission.

“God you feel so tight around my fingers,” Steve breathes against the shell of your ear. The walls of your pussy clench harder around him and he huffs out a laugh. “Yeah. Can’t wait to feel you around my cock,”

“Oh fuck, Steve,” You whine helplessly at his crude words. His fingers plunge in and out of you – you’re so wet he’s practically sliding in and out without any effort.

Your thighs ache from the shaking and spasming he’s caused. Steve decided on a torturous route tonight. He’s pushed you so close to the edge twice already and just before you can take a step off the ledge, he yanks you back.  

The air around you is thick and sticky – from your shared body heat and the frustration you’re feeling from him edging you for the last half hour.

Steve knows just how to get you to the edge and how to pull you back just as quickly.

It’s hell. 

And it’s ecstasy.

Steve brings his hand from around your waist and glides it up your stomach, landing with his palm wrapped loosely around your throat. You lean into his hold.

His other hand continues thrusting his fingers in and out, his thumb catching on your clit to rub tight circles.

“Just like that! Oh please – please don’t stop,” You cry out. Steve nudges the side of your face with his nose and you can feel his smirk against your skin.

“Yeah, right there?” He asks, his fingers continuing their brutal pace. You’re so close. You nod helplessly against his hand, thighs squeezing shut around his hand. Steve leaves dizzying kisses from the underside of your jaw all the way to your temple. He stop to whisper. “You gonna cum?”

“Yes, yes – I’m – I’m right there,”

Your toes curl and that coil in your stomach tightens. Your orgasm is almost there, barely lighting up your finger tips and then suddenly, Steve pulls his fingers out and that feeling of euphoria is gone.

“No no no no!” You sob, knees buckling under you. Your eyes squeeze shut in frustration for the third time you’ve been denied now.

Steve hushes you from behind, using his palm still around your neck to tilt your head up and to the side so he can kiss you. It’s quick but deep. His tongue laps against your own, swallowing down your cries and whines. He smiles against your lips, that bastard.

“I know baby,” Steve coos. “It’s hard, I know, but you can take it. Just a little longer, yeah?”

Despite the torment he’s subjecting you to, the tenderness of his voice has you like a puddle at his feet.

Your wide eyes stare up at him, filled with nothing but lust and trust, and you nod frantically. Anything for him to finally let you come.

“I can – I can take it,” You promise, your voice shaking.

He leans down to press his mouth to yours. “Good girl,” He murmurs against your lips.

Steve removes both his hands from your body and dips them between your bodies. Your stomach swirls at the sound of his belt unbuckling, the metals clinking against each other, and before you know it, Steve’s pants are shoved mid thigh and he’s guiding your body to bend over the sink.

You follow his lead mindlessly, letting him place you exactly where he wants. You hands find purchase against the granite top and he pushes your face down until you meet the counter.

It’s cooling against your cheek, and Steve keeps his large hand splayed across your face as he uses his other hand to line himself up to your entrance.

Your breathing is erratic again, adrenaline and anticipation coursing deep in your veins. Your pussy aches for him and clenches around air. Surprisingly, he doesn’t let you suffer long and pushes himself deep in one thrust.

Steve finds his unforgiving rhythm almost immediately. The stretch is intense – it always is – but the relief is even stronger. You’re a moaning mess for him and your hips buck down to meet each thrust.

“Fuck, you feel so good. Always so fucking good,” Steve groans, one hand squeezing your hip to hard you know it’ll bruise. He watches the way your ass bounces against him every time he drives into you.

The wet sounds of his cock sliding in and out of you fills the room. It’s so lewd and obscene that anybody walking past the door would be able to hear it – you’re thankful for the obnoxiously loud stereo playing from downstairs.

Heat burns through your veins and your body jolts forward with every thrust. In a split second, Steve’s hand tangles itself in your hair before he yanks you back up.

His hips drill into yours, his cock hitting that perfect spot deep inside you – that perfect spot only he’s ever touched – and your eyes roll all the way to the back of your head.

“Oh my God, you’re so – so deep,” You whimper. His fingers tighten in your hair, forcing your back into a deeper arch. Your teeth dig into your bottom lip so hard you taste blood.

Everything about him is so overwhelming. His brutal pace, the warmth radiating from his skin and to yours, the smell of sex surrounding you. It’s all too much for you to handle and he can feel it.

You clench harder around him and he quickens his pace.

“Don’t cum yet,” Steve demands. His voice is firm and unyielding. There’s a slight edge to it and you know he’s just barely hanging on to his own resolve.

You whine in protest – one that quickly turns into another moan when Steve’s hand smacks against the swell of your ass. You jolt at the collision, knees smacking against the cabinets.

“Hold it, baby. I know you can.” Steve grunts. His cock continues to feel like it’s splitting you open and then your eyes focus on the mirrors reflection in front of you.

Your own face is a mess. Mascara runs from your eyes, the blush you swept across your cheeks now mixes with the natural blush Steve caused, your lips are a bitten and swollen mess and your hair is still wrapped messily around his hand.

Steve looks even better. His face is pinched in pure pleasure. There’s a thin layer of sweat covering his forehead, dripping down his temple. His hair is messier than normal and when he glances upwards, meeting your gaze, his eyes are dark and full of lust.

You can’t hold your body back any longer. Every nerve in your body ignites on fire, every tendon pulled taut by him and every muscle begging for relief. Steve uses your knotted hair as leverage and forces your gaze to stay on the reflection of you two.

“Look at you, baby,” He breathes. “Look at the mess you’re making all over me,”

Your head nods frantically against his hold as your eyes bounce around the sight in front of you. You focus on the way his hands grip your hair and your waist, the way your body jerks every time he drives his hips into yours.

You mewl against him, aching for release.

Steve lets out a loud groan as the tip of his cock kisses your cervix. “Goddamnit, you were fuckin’ made for me, weren’t you?”

“Steve baby, please – I need to.. I wanna cum,” You plead helplessly. As he listens to you, he wonders where that sour attitude suddenly went.

“Hold it.” He says firmly. There’s no room for arguing with him but you can feel the way his thrusts begin to turn sloppy and you know he’s not far from his own release.

He just wants you with him.

Steve forces your face back to the mirror. “You wanna cum, hmm?”

“Yes yes! I’ll do anything – please,” Your pathetic begging is music to his ears.

His grins at the sight of you and brings his back back down to your clit, the pads of his three fingers massaging over the sensitive nub. “Come on then baby, do it. Cum for me baby, let go,”

His words are a catalyst – like a conditioned reaction, your entire body tightens around him and your head throws back against his shoulder. Your thighs tremble at the feeling of his cock splitting you open and the extra simulation.

Your fingers dig into the skin and his arm as your climax finally hits.

Your eyes squeeze shut – your vision blurs into something hazy and your head swims with the overwhelming feeling of Steve. Your pussy gushes around his cock and he whines at the feeling and sight of it.

He keeps his eyes trained on the way he disappears in and out of you, and the way your pussy opens and envelopes him with every thrust. Perfectly adjusting to the size of him – just like you were made for him.

It’s all he needs to follow you right off the edge. His arms wrap around your limp body, hugging you back against his chest as his hips sloppily thrust into you. “I’m gonna – I’m gonna cum baby,”

You coo against him, fuzzy and content.

Steve gives you one last thrust before his hips shove to a hilt against yours and you feel thick ropes of his cum fill your pussy. He twitches against your warm and velvet walls, his face buried into your neck as he bites on your skin to minimize the noises threatening to spill.

He stayed sheathed inside for a moment as you both regain  your breath and when he finally looks up at you, there’s a sweet and almost pliable smile on your face.

He smirks gently and kisses the side of your face. “Think I fucked all the attitude out of you yet?”

You pretend to think for a moment, eyes flicking to the corner of the room. “Hmm. I don’t know, maybe we should try again just to be sure,”

Steve laughs against your skin but before he can respond, there’s a bang at the door.

The group stood clustered together outside of the small building of the WSQK, everyone’s eyes fixed on the radio tower looming above the trees. It stretched impossibly high into the sky, the radio frequency had suddenly cut off, and the tower was the only way to turn the electricity back on.

“It’s up there somewhere.” Nancy interrupted the silence, squinting at the top of the tower.

“It’s gotta be, so, I guess someone’s gonna have to climb to the tippy top of this bad boy and…” Robin imitated.

“—Without a harness or anything, it seems kind of dangerous.” Nancy sighed, but there was no other solution.

“Aka, a good job for old Steve Harrington.” Steve cut in, already starting to walk to the base of the tower, your neck snapped towards him, he couldn’t be seriously about climbing more than two hundred feet into the air?

“Steve, I don’t think that’s a good idea—” you tried to stop him.

“I, uh, I actually think this might be a better job for Jonathan Byers.” The other boy offered himself, following Steve.

You groaned at their recklessness, it was practically suicide. “What about the voltage?” You yelled. “Unless you wanna fry?”

Steve had the audacity to ignore you. “I’ve got this Byers, don’t sweat it.” You could only watch silently as they raced to the tower, forgetting every safety precaution.

Robin wandered over beside you, following your gaze. “He’s laying it on thick.” She mentioned.

You hummed absentmindedly, praying in your heart that your boyfriend wouldn’t fall off halfway.

“I mean, seriously—I haven’t seen him try this hard to get somebody’s attention since…”

She trailed off, and that’s when you finally looked at her, curious as to why she stopped so abruptly. Robin almost winced, like she’d already decided she shouldn’t finish the sentence. “Since Nancy.” She said quietly.

Your chest tightened, a scoff escaping you. Honestly, you should’ve seen it sooner, there could only be one reason why he kept trying to beat Jonathan like they were in some game.

Robin rushed on. “I mean, not necessarily her—maybe something happened, I don’t know! But it just seems like the “King Steve” persona is returning, and that’s when he was with her.”

Your eyes trailed back to Steve, he was talking to Jonathan with his brows furrowed, like they were arguing for a moment before he looked down the railing to gaze at you below. Your eyes connected for a second, you couldn’t stop your jaw from clenching and following Nancy back inside.

Maybe she was wrong, but it didn’t feel like she was. Not when you’d spent the last week watching as Steve complained about either Jonathan or Dustin, make jokes whenever Nancy just so happened to be nearby, putting whatever competition he was in above your relationship.

If she wasn’t, you weren’t sure what hurt more, that Steve was still trying to impress Nancy years later, or that everyone else seemed to notice before you did.

The Beamer rattled over another crack in the road, the tires crunching over loose gravel as you tried matching Hopper's path in the upside down with Hawkins.

It was getting dark outside and the air inside Steve’s car felt just as heavy. You sat in the backseat, repeatedly adjusting the frequency of the satellite as Jonathan sat in the passenger seat, following the map of the Mac-Z.

“A little left.” Jonathan muttered, glancing between the road and the tiny map, you held a walkie talkie in your hand, talking to Joyce as she gave you updates about Hopper's journey.

“I’m trying.” Steve replied through gritted teeth, his grip tightening on the steering wheel.

‘You just passed it.” Jonathan sighed.

“Well, maybe if you had told me ten seconds earlier I wouldn’t have.” Steve complained.

You leaned forward, twisting one of the radio dials. There was static, meaning you were still far off.

You frowned. “Guys…”

But neither of them heard you, Jonathan pointed toward the windshield. “The road curves there.”

“It doesn’t.” Steve sighed dramatically.

You pinched the bridge of your nose, suddenly the radio crackled, a burst of motion came through, but gone just as quickly. You adjusted the dial, you were so close if you could only quiet for just a second.

“You don’t have to argue with every suggestion I give.” Jonathan had turned fully towards Steve.

“I’m not arguing.” Steve denied, but Jonathan only gave him a look.

“Dude, I’m just correcting you, no need to get all irritated.” Jonathan pointed out.

“You don’t know if you’re right, we’ve lost Hop a bunch of times already.” Your jaw clenched painfully, there was no way you’d get on track now.

“Steve,” Jonathan said more firmly. “Can you just listen for once?”

You tuned out their argument, word bouncing back and forth across the front seats until they blurred together into nothing but frustration. You tried focusing on the task at hand, on the radio, but Robin’s voice echoed in your head once again.

“I haven’t seen him act like that since Nancy.” You looked up, Steve was gripping the wheel a little too tightly now, sharp silence surrounded you now.

The engine coughed, before the car had come to a complete stop. “No, no, no!” Steve groaned. Something had caused the electric systems to completely die down, leaving you stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Luckily, Steve had rushed to climb out to stop another girl's car a little farther ahead. “I’ll hook them up.” He said, before the door slammed behind him.

Jonathan let out a sharp huff of air through his nose, for a while, neither of you spoke. Finally, he rubbed the back of his neck, leaning against the headrest.

“I don’t know what’s up with him.” He spoke, causing you to glance up.

You let out a slow breath, not wanting to speak the words that made your stomach twist. “I don’t think it’s over nothing.” You hesitated.

“I think it’s Nancy.” You finished, but Jonathan didn’t answer immediately. Steve was leaning over the hood of the car now, connecting cables to start the engine back up again.

Jonathan’s shoulders sagged. “I was hoping that wasn’t it, I kept telling myself, maybe he’s just having a bad day.” He shook his head.

You agreed, biting your lip. “So was I.”

Jonathan looked down at his hands. “I don’t even care if he doesn’t like me.” A humorless laugh escaped him. “But it’s been so long since high school, I thought he’d changed by now.”

Your fingers tightened over the radio, willing yourself not to fall apart. Steve hadn’t been like this, he was such a sweet and caring boyfriend, he always made it clear how much he loved you. But lately, you weren’t so sure of that.

“I thought he was over her.” Jonathan said quietly, and you knew what he meant. Steve should’ve remained solely focused on you by now.

You swallowed. “I did too.” Neither of you noticed Steve looking back towards the Beamer, the way his smile disappeared when he saw you and Jonathan talking.

From where he stood, it looked like the two of you were having a serious conversation, and his stomach sank. He looked away before either of you could catch him looking, reaching for the jumper cables with a little more force than necessary.

The distance between the three of you felt even greater than it had an hour ago.

You were thrown against the seat in front of you with a startled gasp as the Beamer lodged into something wet and rubbery.

During a split second decision, Steve had launched the car into the portal that led to the upside down, a demogorgon had been changing after you when a plan failed, and now you were stuck inside with no way back.

Everyone sat in stunned silence for half a second, catching their breaths at their almost near death when Steve leaned forward towards the windshield. “Well, that’s not good.”

The front half of the Beamer had disappeared into what looked like a massive wall of pulsating vines and fleshy growth, the upside down having swallowed almost the entirety of the vehicle. Steve tried the gas anyway, and the fires spun uselessly.

Nancy was already climbing out of the backseat next to you. “C’mon.” She called out, and the rest of the group followed.

The familiar cold air of the upside down hit you the moment you stepped outside, ash drifted through the sky. You shivered, you hated coming back to this place, everything about it just felt so wrong. Aside from the fact there shouldn’t be a parallel world to yours, the monsters that littered the place were enough to make the hairs on your arms stand up.

“What even is this thing?” Steve looked up, observing the giant wall in front of you.

“No idea.” Jonathan replied. “But whatever it is, it’s alive.”

Steve crouched beside the tangled wall of vines, pushing at them with both hands as if they would part. Jonathan gave him an incredulous look. “They’re attached to the ground.” He said in an obvious tone.

Steve shoved harder, but the vines refused to budge. “I almost had it.” He grunted.

You exchanged a look with Nancy, she sighed under her breath. As many times as you tried calling them for their attention, neither of them seemed to listen.

Steve stepped around the side, gesturing aimlessly toward the vines. “If we cut through here—”

“With what?” Jonathan interrupted.

Steve opened his mouth, then closed it begrudgingly. “We’ll figure something out.” He settled on.

“See? No plan?” Jonathan folded his arms.

Steve rolled his eyes. “You know, you don’t have to shoot down every idea I have.”

“And you don’t have to pretend like every idea is a good one, clearly there’s no moving this thing.” Jonathan replied almost instantly.

You looked over at Nancy, she was also watching the argument with a look clearly exhausted as you. Steve caught both of your eyes on him, and straightened immediately.

“I’ll just handle it myself.” Steve shrugged, and your patience had finally snapped, you couldn’t take it any longer.

“Steve.” You said aloud, tighter than you meant.

He finally perked up. “What?”

“Would you stop?” You begged, annoyance clearly shown on your face. The clearing fell silent as Steve blinked, not moving a muscle.

“Stop what?” He had the nerve to ask, as if he had no idea what you meant.

You gestured vaguely between him and Jonathan. “This. The arguing, we’re not gonna make it out of here or find Hopper and El if you keep having the need to prove yourself right.”

There were too many things at stake, and a hot shot of anger was coursing through your body. “I’m trying to help.” Steve’s brows pulled together.

“No.” Your voice came out sharply, you’ve never talked to Steve like that before. “You’re just making a fool out of me.”

His expression fell, Jonathan looked between the two of you wishing he was anywhere else. Steve only swallowed thickly, you didn’t spare him a glance as you finally turned your back on him, Nancy choosing to follow closely behind you as the group started making their way through the dangers of the upside down.

The abandoned halls of the Hawkins Lab were eerily quiet. You had arrived at the lab after managing to connect your radio with Dustin, he theorized that the only way to bring the wall down was from inside the lab.

So now here you were, exploring the building for something you had no clue about. You each carried flashlights, flickering the light over every shadow that covered the walls.

The group paused at the end of a long corridor, Nancy turned to the rest of you. “We'll cover more ground if we split up.” She suggested.

Jonathan nodded. “I’ll check upstairs, and you should go down to the basement, if you find anything, use the radio.”

“I’ll go with Jonathan.” Nancy said, and you were surprised Steve hadn’t immediately volunteered himself to go with her.

You answered before he could. “I’ll go alone.”

Steve frowned, there was no way in hell he’d let you out of his sight in this creepy place. “No, I’ll come with.”

You were already walking. “I’m perfectly capable of handling myself.”

“I know, but I don’t trust this place.” He responded, following behind you as Nancy and Jonathan left through another exit.

You didn’t answer, allowing him to reluctantly trail behind you wordlessly, you couldn’t help but feel the same at the thought of him going alone.

For several minutes, the only sounds were your footsteps and the echoing of the building around you until you made it into the rainbow room. “Watch your step,” Steve warned.

“Oh, so now you care?” You could’ve almost laughed at his words, not bothering to turn around.

He paused in his tracks, letting his flashlight hang loosely at his side. “What’s wrong with you? Even back there, you were acting strange.”

You finally turned around to look at him, a look of disbelief on your face. “What’s wrong with me?” You repeated. “No.” You shook your head. “What’s wrong with you?”

Steve blinked, but you cut him off before he could speak. “You’re the one who spent the last week picking fights with Jonathan. You try making a better plan than him every time, and you’ve been acting reckless. You’re making me look like an idiot for thinking you’ve changed, Steve.” Your chest was heaving violently, but you needed to get the last thing off of your shoulders. “If you’ve been fighting for Nancy’s affection this whole time, then I don’t know why you’re still with me.” You confessed more quietly.

Steve felt like a brick had been thrown at him, all air escaping his lungs. “Wait…Nancy?” He asked, still feeling confused.

“You heard me.” You responded, it would hurt less if he would just stop with the act already.

“You think…I’ve been trying to get Nancy back?” Steve asked slowly, not believing it himself.

When he spoke again, his voice was on the edge of cracking. Your words were repeating through his head, “I don’t know why you’re still with me.” He took a step closer. “No.” Then another step. “No.”

You didn’t answer. “It was never Nancy.” You willed yourself to look at him, and his eyes were glassy. “I know I’ve been a real jerk lately.” He laughed bitterly.

Steve stayed quiet for a long time, long enough to make you wonder if he wasn’t going to answer. “I—Do you know what Dustin used to do?”

The question caught you completely off guard. “What?” You asked breathlessly.

“He’d laugh at every dumb joke I’d make.” Steve smiled sadly. “He’d tell everyone I was the coolest guy he knew.”

His smile faded as he searched for the words. “He made me feel like I actually mattered.” You felt your anger begin to crumble, Steve’s eyes remained fixated on the floor. “I never realized how much I actually needed that. And then Eddie came along—and Dustin talked about him all the time.”

Steve paused, his voice faltering. “Eddie helped him stand out, but sometimes,” his shoulders sagged. “I feel like the guy Dustin looked up to doesn’t exist anymore.”

You felt a pang to your chest, Steve looked at you. “The kid changed understandably, but without him here I don’t know who I’m supposed to be anymore. Every time I don’t feel useful, I try harder, talk louder, make another joke, start an argument.”

His throat bobbed, he felt ashamed. “But I was just being stupid, and instead of becoming better, I managed to convince the person I love that I wanted someone else.”

Your eyes filled immediately, there wasn’t an ounce of jealousy in his voice, only deep sadness. “Oh, Steve.”

He looked at you more determined. “I never wanted Nancy. The only person I could ever love is you.”

Tears finally spilled over. “I thought,” your voice cracked. “I thought I was watching you fall back in love with her, and it broke me.”

Steve's expression crumbled, he hated imagining you suffering alone. “Sweetheart.” He reached for your hands, giving you every chance to pull away, when you didn’t, he brought you into a bone crushing hug.

“I’ve loved you since I’ve known you.” He whispered, a ghost of a smile appearing on his lips. “There isn’t a universe where I’d choose Nancy over you. I’m so sorry.”

You buried your face into his chest. “I don’t want you doubting yourself, Steve. You don’t have to be the cool guy.”

He laughed weakly. “I know.”

“You matter, you hear me? And if not to yourself, then to me, in my heart. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone, you’re enough.” His arms tightened around you, thinking of your outburst earlier, he had completely deserved it.

“And I never want you to think that you’re not enough for me either, baby. I don’t know what’s going to happen after this, but I need to make sure you’ll be there every step of the way.” He said, and you sucked in a breath.

you were dustin henderson’s old sister.

the one who spent most of her time trying to study or trying to stop your little brother from blowing up the basement.

you weren’t unpopular, exactly, but you weren’t part of the spotlight either. you kept your head down. got good grades. and tried to survive without drawing too much attention.

steve harrington was the opposite.

king steve. 

the guy who ruled the school.

he had everything — looks, money, status, and a different girl on his arm every other week. 

and you had never been on his radar.

until tommy hagan started loudly crushing on you.

tommy had clearly not gotten that memo. 

and for weeks, he had been bothering you.

every morning he’d lean against your locker like he owned it. flashing what he probably thought was a charming grin. making lame jokes. trying way too hard to flirt. he wasn’t subtle at all. 

he told anyone who would listen that he was going to ‘’bag henderson’s sister’’. it was embarrassing and annoying, especially because you had zero interest in him.

you turned him down politely the first few times. then less politely. but tommy was nothing if not persistent. 

and then steve harrington noticed. his best friend. 

one afternoon after the final bell, you were at your locker switching out books when you overheard them. steve was walking down the hallway with tommy, carol, and a couple of the other guys. tommy was being loud and obnoxious as usual.

“i’m telling you, man, i’m gonna ask her out this weekend,” tommy bragged loudly. “she’s fucking hot. she keeps playing hard to get but i know she wants it. i’m wearing her down.”

steve stopped walking.

“you’re serious?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “dustin henderson’s sister?”

“yeah, dude,” tommy laughed, puffing out his chest. “she’s quiet, but i bet she’s a freak once you get her alone.”

something shifted in steve’s expression. 

he didn’t laugh along like he normally would. 

instead, his eyes narrowed slightly, almost like he had just decided something.

then, steve started paying attention to you.

it began small.

he nodded at you in the hallway. then he started saying “hey” when he passed by. soon he was waiting by your locker in the mornings, leaning against it with that famous king smirk.

“you know tommy’s got a massive crush on you, right?” he said one morning, arms crossed.you rolled your eyes, shoving books into your locker. 

“yeah. he’s not exactly subtle.” steve chuckled, low and warm. 

“he’s an idiot. you deserve way better than that tool.”

from that day on, steve turned up the charm.

he started walking with you between classes, even when it took him out of his way. 

he teased you about the stack of books you always carried. 

he made sure to sit near you at lunch sometimes, right next to him, much to tommy’s visible annoyance. 

carol was catty at first, throwing little comments your way, but steve shut her down every single time with just a look.

tommy’s dirty looks became more frequent. steve seemed to enjoy it. 

every time tommy tried to talk to you, steve would appear out of nowhere, sling an arm around your shoulders, and pull you closer like it was the most natural thing in the world.

what started as steve stepping in to shut tommy down quickly turned into something else. 

but he never asked you to be his girlfriend. 

he never took you on official dates. 

it was a fling. a messy, heated situationship that neither of you defined. you would make out in empty classrooms, in his car after school, and sometimes in the bathrooms.

and you? you felt completely out of your depth.

you kissed a couple of boys before, but never like this. 

you always felt awkward, unsure, like you didn’t know how to kiss properly. you never took control. you just followed steve’s lead, hoping you weren’t doing it wrong.

it happened again during lunch.

steve found you in the hallway, didn’t say a word, just grabbed your hand and pulled you into the male’s bathroom near the gym. 

“steve—” you started, heart racing.

the second the door was locked, he pushed you against the sink and kissed you hard.

his mouth was hungry, tongue sliding against yours as he pressed his body into you. 

you tried to kiss him back, but you felt clumsy, unsure. you never quite knew what to do with your tongue or how much pressure to use.

steve didn’t seem to mind. he kissed you deeper, tilting your head the way he wanted, dominating the kiss completely.

steve pulled back just enough to look at you, eyes dark.

you moaned softly into the kiss, your hands gripping his polo shirt. 

then steve didn’t waste time. he lifted you onto the sink, stepping between your legs, his hands sliding under your sweater.

“fuck, i’ve been thinking about this all morning,” he muttered against your lips.

you let out a soft sound when his lips moved to your neck, kissing and sucking lightly on your skin. 

his body was warm and solid against yours, and for a moment you forgot where you were.

just as steve’s hand started sliding higher up your side, the door handle rattled.

“steve…” you breathed, fingers threading into his hair.

he smiled against you and sucked your upper lip while one hand squeezed your thigh under your skirt.

just as his fingers started sliding higher, a loud knock came from the door.

“harrington! you in there, man?” tommy’s voice called out. “we’re gonna be late for that thing with carol. hurry the fuck up!”

steve groaned against your chest, clearly frustrated.

“shit,” he muttered.

he lifted his head and looked at you, eyes dark with want, lips slightly swollen. He gave you one last slow kiss, deep and lingering, before pulling back.

“i gotta go,” he whispered, regret heavy in his voice. “i told tommy i was going to the bathroom and that i’d meet him and carol after lunch. if i don’t show up he’ll come looking.”

you nodded, still breathless, cheeks flushed and lips tingling. steve helped you down from the sink, fixing your sweater and skirt with surprisingly gentle hands.

he cupped your face and kissed you once more, softer this time.

“i’ll make it up to you later, okay?” he said, thumb brushing your bottom lip. “promise.”

then he unlocked the door and slipped out, giving you one last smirk before disappearing down the hallway to meet tommy.

you stayed there for a moment, with your heart still pounding, legs a little shaky and trying to process what had just happened.

later that same day, carol pulled you aside during the last period and dragged you out to the bleachers behind the school. she looked at you with a raised eyebrow.

‘’so,’’ carol started, smirking. ‘’you and steve were getting nasty in the bathroom? bold move, girl.’’

you felt your face heat up instantly.

“it wasn’t… we didn’t—” you tried, but carol cut you off with a laugh.

“relax. i’m not judging. just surprised you let him drag you in there during lunch. tommy’s been sulking all week because steve basically stole you from under his nose.”

you sighed and sat down on the cold metal bleacher. carol sat beside you, crossing her legs.

“i don’t know what i’m doing, carol,” you admitted quietly. “every time steve kisses me, i feel like i’m doing it wrong. i just stood there and let him lead. i never know what to do with my hands or my tongue. i feel so awkward and inexperienced.”

carol looked at you for a second, then let out a short laugh, blowing smoke from the corner of her mouth.

“oh honey, you really are a baby at this, aren’t you?” 

she said it not unkindly. 

“steve’s used to girls who know how to kiss back. but he also likes the whole innocent thing you’ve got going on. still… you can’t just be a passive doll forever.”

carol continued, more direct this time.

“next time he kisses you, don’t just open your mouth and wait for him to do everything. bite his bottom lip gently. grab the back of his neck or pull his hair. press your body against him. guys go fucking crazy when you do that.”

you listened carefully with your cheeks burning.

“and if he puts his hand between your legs,” carol continued, smirking, “don’t just let him touch you. push against his fingers. show him you’re enjoying it. whisper shit in his ear too. steve acts cool but he’s easy when you talk dirty.”

then you stayed quiet for a moment, processing everything she said. carol glanced at you, almost gentle for once.

“i just don’t want to look stupid,” you said softly. “i feel like he knows so much more than me.”

“you are inexperienced. own it. steve clearly likes you exactly like this or he wouldn’t keep chasing you.”

you touched your neck self-consciously and stood up, walking beside her back toward the school building.

even though carol could be sharp and mean, her advice felt strangely useful. maybe you really did need to stop overthinking and just try taking control for once.

then two days later, you were at steve’s house after school.

his parents were out of town again, so the big empty house felt even quieter than usual. 

you went under the excuse of ‘’studying together,’’ but now you were both in his room, sitting on his bed and supposedly watching movies. 

the movie was playing on the tv across the room, some action flick with loud explosions, but neither of you were paying attention for a while.

now steve was half on top of you, kissing you slowly and deeply. his body was warm and heavy in the best way, and one of his hands was resting on your waist. the other cupped the side of the side of your face. 

his kisses were confident, smooth. he tilted your head exactly how he wanted. his tongue brushed against yours in that rhythm that made your stomach flutter.

then you remembered carol’s words.

you wanted to try. you really did. you wanted to be better for him.

so when steve kissed you again, you gathered all your courage. 

you slid both hands into his hair and pulled him closer, kissing him a little harder than usual. you sucked gently on his bottom lip, then brushed your tongue against his more confidently.

for a few seconds it felt good.

steve made a low sound on his throat, almost surprised,and his hand tightened on your waist.

you tried to take more control. 

you deepened the kiss, moving your tongue against his, pressing your chest closer to his body. you even tugged lightly on his hair the way carol said guys liked.

but then the thoughts crashed in.

is this too much? am i being too aggressive? what if he thinks i’m bad at this? what if he’s just pretending to like it?

your confidence vanished in an instant.

your movements became hesitant and stiff. you didn’t know what to do with your tongue anymore. 

you pulled back slightly, breathing faster. cheeks burning with embarrassment and frustration.

steve noticed right away.

he lifted his head and looked down at you, his hazel eyes were soft but concerned. his thumb gently stroked your cheek.

“hey… you okay?” he asked quietly, voice low and careful.

you forced a small smile and nodded quickly.

“yeah… i’m fine,” you whispered.

“we can slow down if you want,” he said gently. “or stop. you know that, right?”

“no, it’s okay,” you replied, shaking your head. you didn’t want to explain how nervous and insecure you felt. you didn’t want him to know you were overthinking everything. “let’s just… watch the movie.”

steve hesitated for a second, searching your eyes, but eventually nodded.

“alright,” he said softly.

he shifted beside you, lying on his back and pulling you against his chest. 

his arm wrapped around your shoulders, holding you close as he turned his attention back to the television. 

the movie continued playing — loud gunshots and dramatic music filling the room — but your mind was somewhere else completely.

you lay there with your head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat, pretending to watch the screen. inside, you felt stupid and frustrated with yourself.

carol’s advice had sounded so easy when she said it, but when you actually tried, your brain had sabotaged everything. 

you kept replaying the kiss in your head, wondering what you did wrong, why you couldn’t just relax and enjoy it like other girls seemed to.

steve’s fingers traced slow patterns on your arm. 

every now and then he would press a soft kiss to the top of your head, completely unaware of the storm happening inside you.

after a few minutes, he spoke casually, trying to include you.

“this part’s supposed to be cool,” he murmured with relaxed voice. “you like action movies, right?”

you nodded against his chest.

“yeah… it’s good,” you whispered, even though you had no idea what was happening on screen.

steve squeezed your shoulder lightly and continued watching, his hand still gently stroking your arm. 

he seemed good just holding you, completely happy with the simple closeness.

but you couldn’t stop the quiet voice in your head. you stayed quiet, curled up against him, pretending everything was fine while your mind kept spinning.

days passed after that afternoon at steve’s house. 

you tried to act normal around him, but the insecurity still lingered in the back of your mind. you kept overthinking every kiss, every touch, wondering if you were doing enough or if you looked inexperienced. 

steve noticed you were a little quieter than usual, but he didn’t push. 

he just kept being sweet and patient with you.

one afternoon after school, steve was leaning against his car in the parking lot with carol. 

tommy wandered off somewhere, leaving the two of them alone. steve pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and took a slow drag, exhaling the smoke toward the sky.

carol leaned beside him, arms crossed.

“so,” she said, smirking slightly. “how’s it going with henderson’s sister? you two are still sneaking around like horny teenagers?”

steve let out a small laugh, but it didn’t reach his eyes. he took another drag from his cigarette before answering.

“it’s going… okay,” he said. “i really like her. more than i thought i would. but she’s different.”

carol raised an eyebrow.

“different how?” steve hesitated, tapping ash from his cigarette.

“she gets in her head a lot. i can tell she’s nervous. like she thinks she’s doing everything wrong. i try to go slow but… i don’t know. sometimes i feel like i’m pushing too much.”

carol was quiet for a moment, then sighed.

“yeah, well… she talked to me the other day.” steve turned his head quickly, surprised.

“she did?”

“mhm,” carol nodded. “poor girl was spiraling. told me she feels awkward as hell when you kiss her. she thinks she doesn’t know how to kiss properly. she’s scared she’s bad at it and that you’ll get bored.”

steve stayed silent, staring at the ground as he processed her words. he took another long drag from his cigarette, clearly thinking.

carol continued, more gently than usual.

“she really likes you, steve. but she’s intimidated. you’re experienced, you’ve been with a lot of girls, and she’s… basically starting from zero.”

steve exhaled slowly, smoke curling in the air.

“fuck,” he muttered. “i didn’t realize it was that bad. i thought she was just shy.”

“she is shy,” carol said. “but she also really wants to be good for you. so maybe stop always taking control. let her lead sometimes. tell her it’s okay if she’s not perfect. tell her you like when she tries. girls like her need to hear that shit out loud.”

steve nodded slowly, looking thoughtful. he flicked ash from his cigarette and stayed quiet for a few seconds.

“yeah… you’re right,” he said finally. “i’ve been going too fast with her. i get carried away because i really like her, but… i don’t want her feeling like she’s not enough.”

carol smirked a little.

“good. don’t fuck it up, harrington”

that night your brother were out for dinner with friends and your mom was downstairs making a lot of noise with some friends.

you had your bedroom door closed, desk lamp on, trying to focus on your history notes even though your mind kept drifting.

you were halfway through rewriting a paragraph when you heard the familiar soft tap on your window.

your heart jumped. you turned around and saw steve’s face smiling at you through the glass, his hair a little messy from climbing. 

you quickly got up and opened the window.

“steve,” you whispered, half surprised.. “what are you doing here? mom is downstairs with some friends”

“i know,” he said quietly as he climbed inside, careful not to make too much noise. “i waited until i saw them all sitting down. figured it was safe enough.”

once he was inside he closed the window and immediately pulled you into a gentle hug, kissing the top of your head.

“missed you,” he murmured against your hair. “been thinking about you all day.”

you hugged him back, breathing in his familiar scent of cologne. 

after a moment you both sat on the edge of your bed. steve looked at the open textbooks scattered across your desk.

“still studying?” he asked, a hint of mockery in his tone. “you’re such a good little student, aren’t you?”

“history test tomorrow,” you sighed. “i’m trying to focus but my brain keeps wandering.”

steve nodded, then stayed quiet for a second, like he was thinking about something. he reached over and gently took your hand, playing with your fingers.

“can i ask you something?” he said, voice lower than usual.you looked at him, a little nervous. 

“sure.”

he kept his eyes on your hands for a moment before speaking.

“what’s wrong?” he asked, voice lower. “you’ve been weird the last couple days. carol told me you talked to her.”

you felt your cheeks heat up. you looked down at your lap, embarrassed that he had noticed.

“you didn’t do anything wrong,” you whispered. “i just… i feel like every time we do it, i freeze up because i’m scared i’m doing it wrong. i don’t know how to take the lead or… be good at it like you are.”

steve stayed quiet, listening carefully. his thumb kept gently stroking the back of your hand.

“i keep thinking you must get bored,” you admitted, voice small. “because you’ve been with girls who know what they’re doing and i’m just… following.”

steve was silent for a few seconds. then he gently squeezed your hand.

“you’re really overthinking this, huh?” he said, smirking. “it’s just kissing, baby. you don’t have to be perfect at it. you think i give a shit if you’re a little clumsy?”

you lifted your eyes to meet his. his expression was serious but incredibly warm.

“i’m not bored,” he said firmly. “not even a little. i like kissing you. i like everything we do together.’’

you were both half-lying on your bed, propped up against the pillows. steve shifted a little closer, his body relaxed beside yours.

“if you want,” he murmured, voice gentle, “you can kiss me. however you want. i’ll stay still. no moving. you’re in complete control tonight. just… experiment. do whatever feels good to you.”

your heart started beating faster. 

you nodded slowly, nerves and excitement mixing in your stomach.

steve lay back a little more against the pillows, looking up at you with calm, patient eyes. he rested his hands on the bed beside him, clearly showing he wasn’t going to touch you unless you wanted him to.

“i’m all yours,” he whispered.

you hesitated for a second, then leaned over him. 

at first you just kissed him softly, lips brushing against his. steve stayed perfectly still, letting you set the pace. 

you kissed him again, a little longer this time, trying to relax. 

when you tilted your head and pressed your lips more firmly against his, he let out a quiet hum but didn’t move.

feeling a bit braver, you parted your lips and slowly slid your tongue against his bottom lip. 

you sucked gently on it, just like carol had suggested. 

steve’s breathing changed slightly, but he kept his promise — he didn’t kiss you back, didn’t touch you. he let you explore.

you kissed him deeper, sliding your tongue into his mouth, tasting him. 

you experimented with different pressures, sometimes slow and soft, sometimes a little harder. 

“not bad,” he said, voice teasing. “but you’re still thinking too much. you kiss like you’re scared i’m gonna grade you or something.”

then you sucked on his tongue carefully, then kissed the corner of his mouth, his jaw, and came back to his lips again.

“you’re doing so good,” he whispered, voice a little rough. “keep going if you want. i’m not going anywhere.”

but after a few more moments of letting you lead, steve couldn’t hold back any longer.

with a low, quiet groan, he finally took control.

one of his hands slid to the back of your neck, holding you in place as he tilted his head and kissed you deeply. his mouth devoured yours — slow at first, then hungrier, more intense. 

his tongue moved against yours with confidence, tasting you, claiming the kiss completely. 

he sucked on your upper lip, gently biting it before soothing it with his tongue, then did it again, focusing on that soft sensitive skin like it was his favorite thing in the world.

his nose brushed against your cheek and almost pressed into the corner of your eye as he kissed you, the closeness making everything feel even more intimate.

you could feel every small movement, every warm breath against your skin. 

he kissed you like he had been holding back for too long, like he couldn’t get enough.

you let out a soft, surprised sound against his mouth. 

steve used that moment to gently push you back until you were lying flat on the bed. 

he moved with you, hovering over you without putting his full weight on you, one elbow supporting him while his other hand stayed at the side of your face.he never stopped kissing you.

his lips moved against yours with slow, deep strokes, occasionally pulling back just enough to kiss your upper lip again, sucking on it softly before diving back in. 

his nose kept brushing the side of your face, warm and intimate, as he angled his head to kiss you even deeper.

you were breathless, gripping his shirt, when his hand slowly slid down your body. 

he moved patiently, giving you time to stop him if you wanted. 

his fingers traced over your stomach, then slipped under the waistband of your pajama shorts and panties.

“is this okay?” he whispered against your lips.

you nodded quickly, whispering back, 

“yes… please.”

steve kissed you again as his fingers finally reached your bare pussy. 

he groaned softly into your mouth when he felt how wet you already were.

“fuck, baby… you’re soaked,” he murmured, voice low and rough. “all this just from kissing me?”

his fingers moved slowly, gently parting your folds and rubbing soft circles around your clit. 

he wasn’t rushing.

every touch was deliberate, patient, like he wanted to learn exactly what made you tremble.

you tried to stay quiet, biting your lip hard, but a small whimper escaped when he slid one finger inside you.

“steve…” you whimpered, voice shaky and a little too loud. “oh my god… steve—”

“shhh,” steve whispered, kissing the corner of your mouth. “gotta be quiet, sweetheart. your mom’s downstairs. can’t have them hearing how pretty you sound when i touch you.”

he added a second finger, curling them gently, stroking that sensitive spot inside you while his thumb kept rubbing slow, perfect circles on your clit. 

his mouth stayed on yours, swallowing every soft moan you couldn’t hold back.

“that’s it,” he breathed against your lips. “feel how wet you are for me? so warm and tight around my fingers… you’re doing so good, baby.”

your hips started moving on their own, grinding against his hand. 

steve kept the pace steady and gentle, never going too fast, just enough to make your legs shake.

“i’ve got you,” he whispered, kissing your upper lip again. “let go for me. cum on my fingers like a good girl. i want to feel you.”

when your body finally started to relax, he slowly pulled his fingers out of you and brought them to his lips, licking them clean while looking into your eyes.

“you’re killing me,” he whispered, voice rough. “so fucking wet and responsive… and those little sounds you make—”

you blushed deeply, still breathing hard.

“i’m sorry… i couldn’t help it,” you whispered, embarrassed.

steve smiled softly and leaned down to kiss you again, slower this time, gentler.

“don’t apologize,” he murmured against your lips. “i love hearing you. i just don’t want your brother and his friends running up here thinking something’s wrong.”

he kissed you for a long moment, deep and slow, before pulling back just enough to look into your eyes.

“i want you,” he whispered, voice husky. “i want to be inside you… if you’ll let me.”

you nodded, heart hammering. you breathed. 

“it’s okay.”

steve groaned softly and kissed you again, harder this time. 

he helped you out of your shorts and panties, then pushed his own jeans and boxers down just enough. 

his cock was hard and heavy as he rubbed the tip against your soaked entrance.

“tell me if it hurts,” he said seriously, looking into your eyes. “or if i should slow down or whatever”

“i trust you,” you whispered.

steve kissed your upper lip softly, then pushed in slowly.

you gasped at the stretch. 

he was big, and even though you were soaked, the pressure was intense. 

steve groaned deeply. his forehead pressed against yours, his nose brushing the side of your eye as he sank deeper.

“fuck… you’re so tight, baby,” he breathed, voice strained. “so fucking tight around me… you feel incredible.”

he moved slowly, inch by inch, until he was fully inside you. you let out a shaky whimper, gripping his shoulders. 

steve stayed still, kissing your upper lip again and again, his nose almost pressed into the corner of your eye as he tried to stay patient

.“you okay?” he whispered. “talk to me, sweetheart.”

“it’s a lot…” you breathed, “but… it feels good. keep going.”

steve groaned and started moving, slow and deep thrusts. his mouth stayed on yours, kissing your upper lip, sucking on it gently while he fucked you.

“that’s my good girl,” he murmured against your mouth, voice rough and low. “taking my cock so well… your first time and you’re already squeezing me so fucking tight.”

he started moving slowly, pulling out almost all the way before sliding back in deep. every thrust was careful but firm, his hips rolling against yours. 

his nose kept brushing the side of your eye as he kissed you, focusing on your upper lip, sucking and licking it between thrusts.

“steve…” you whimpered, a little too loud.

he quickly covered your mouth with his, kissing you deeply to muffle the sound as he picked up the pace.

“shhh, princess,” he breathed between kisses. “you have to be quiet for me. can’t let them hear how good i’m fucking you.”

he thrust deeper, grinding against you with every stroke. the wet sounds of his cock sliding in and out of your soaked pussy filled the room. 

steve groaned quietly into your mouth, clearly struggling to stay quiet himself.

“you feel so fucking good,” he whispered hotly. “so warm and tight… i’ve wanted this pussy for so long, baby.”

you moaned against his hand as he covered your mouth again, his thrusts becoming a little faster, deeper. every time he bottomed out, his hips pressed firmly against your clit, sending sparks through your whole body.

“that’s it… take my cock,” he murmured, voice rough with lust. “such a good girl for me… letting me fuck you in your own bed while your mom’s downstairs.”

he kissed your upper lip again, sucking on it hard as he fucked you steadily, his nose brushing your eye with every movement. 

the closeness, the heat, the way he filled you so completely — it was almost too much.

your moans grew louder despite trying to stay quiet. steve kept kissing you, swallowing every sound, his hand occasionally covering your mouth when you got too loud.

“cum for me, baby,” he whispered, voice breaking. “i want to feel you cum around my cock.”

you came hard, back arching, thighs shaking as your pussy clenched tightly around him. you cried out into his mouth, the sound muffled by his deep kiss.

steve groaned loudly, hips stuttering as he followed right after you, burying himself as deep as possible and filling you with warm, thick pulses.

for a few seconds he stayed there, breathing heavily against your neck. then he slowly pulled out and sat up, running a hand through his messy hair.

he looked at you for a moment, eyes still dark, before he started pulling his jeans back up.

“shit… i gotta go,” he whispered, voice low. “your mom and her friends are still downstairs. if i stay any longer they’re gonna wonder what the hell is taking so long.’’

you watched him, a little dazed.

steve ran a hand through his hair and finally glanced at you.

“you good?” he asked, but it sounded more like a quick check than real concern. “i’ll see you tomorrow or something.”

he leaned down and gave you a quick, almost casual kiss on the forehead — nothing like the intense kisses from minutes ago.

“don’t overthink it, alright?” he said as he moved toward the window. “it was good.”

and just like that, he climbed out the window and disappeared into the night, leaving you alone on your bed, half-naked, sore, and suddenly feeling very small.

You are still a virgin, and Steve being… well, Steve makes you nervous. He is hung. You have felt him pressed against you plenty of times during heated make-outs, thick and heavy, and it always leaves you equal parts excited and anxious. What if I can’t take him? What if it hurts too much and I ruin everything?

Tonight, with his parents out of town, the big house feels like it belongs to just the two of you. A horror movie plays downstairs, but you have both stopped paying attention long ago. Steve’s hand slips under your shirt on the couch, and before you know it you are kissing your way upstairs, laughing softly between heated touches.

The dim glow of the bedside lamp in Steve’s room casts long shadows across the walls, painting the space in warm amber hues. The air is thick with the scent of his cologne, something woody and clean, like pine after rain, mingled with the faint, salty tang of summer sweat from the two of you. Your heart hammers against your ribs as Steve’s hands roam your sides, his fingers tracing the curve of your waist through the thin fabric of your shirt. You have wanted this for so long. Months of stolen glances at the video store, late-night drives in his BMW where his laughter fills the car like music, and quiet moments on the couch where his knee brushes yours and lingers. King Steve, the boy who once ruled Hawkins High with effortless charm, now looks at you like you are the only thing in his universe.

His mouth tastes like the cherry cola you shared, sweet and fizzy, and his lips are soft yet insistent as they move against yours. You do not tell him it is your first time. Why ruin the moment? You have imagined this so vividly, touched yourself to thoughts of his strong hands and that cocky grin. You can handle it. You want him.

Steve pulls back slightly, his hazel eyes dark with desire, breaths coming in short, warm puffs against your cheek. “You sure about this?” he murmurs, voice low and rough, like gravel wrapped in velvet. His thumb strokes your bottom lip, sending shivers racing down your spine.

You nod, pulling him back down. “Yes, Steve. Please.”

He groans softly, the sound vibrating through his chest into yours. Clothes come off in a haze of fumbling hands and breathless laughter. Your shirt first, then his, revealing the expanse of his toned chest, lightly dusted with hair that feels surprisingly soft under your palms. His skin is warm, almost feverish, and you press your lips to the hollow of his throat, tasting the salt there. He smells so good, like home and danger all at once.

Steve’s hands are gentle at first, exploring. He cups your breasts, thumbs circling your nipples until they pebble under his touch, drawing a gasp from your throat. The sensation is electric, a spark that travels straight between your legs. You arch into him, feeling the hard length of him pressing against your thigh through his boxers. He is bigger than you imagined, thicker, longer, and a flicker of nerves twists in your belly, but you push it down.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he whispers, kissing down your neck, sucking lightly at the pulse point until you whimper. His mouth is hot, wet, leaving trails of cooling saliva that make your skin tingle. Lower, he goes, lips closing around one nipple, tongue flicking in lazy circles. The wet sounds of his mouth fill the room, obscene and intoxicating. Your fingers tangle in his famous hair, those chestnut strands silky and slightly damp with sweat.

You reach for him, palming the bulge in his boxers. He hisses, hips bucking into your hand. “Careful, honey. You keep that up and this’ll be over too fast.” His voice is strained, playful, but edged with raw need.

Pants and underwear join the pile on the floor. Naked now, the cool air of the room kisses your heated skin, raising goosebumps. Steve hovers over you, his body a wall of warmth. The size difference hits you then, his broad shoulders blocking out the light, his thighs thick and muscular bracketing yours. He is all man, solid and real, while you feel smaller, softer beneath him.

He takes his time with you, or tries to. Fingers dip between your legs, finding you slick and ready. “So wet already,” he murmurs approvingly, circling your clit with practiced ease. Pleasure blooms, hot and liquid, your thighs trembling. The scent of your arousal mixes with his, musky and intimate. You moan as one finger slides inside, then two, stretching you gently. It feels good, so good, the fullness, the curl of his fingers hitting that spot that makes stars burst behind your eyelids. But you know it is not enough for what is coming.

“Steve… I need you,” you breathe, pulling him closer.

He positions himself, the blunt head of his cock nudging your entrance. It feels enormous, hot, velvety skin over steel. You bite your lip, willing your body to relax. He pushes in slowly at first, inch by inch, groaning deeply. “Fuck, you’re tight. So perfect.”

The stretch burns, a deep, aching pressure that makes your breath hitch. You grip his shoulders, nails digging into the muscle there. He is so big, filling you in ways you have never felt, the veins along his shaft dragging against your walls.

Halfway in, he pauses, panting. “You okay?” His eyes search yours, tender even in the haze of lust.

You nod, forcing a smile. “Don’t stop.”

He thrusts deeper, and the pain sharpens, a tearing sting that steals your breath. But beneath it, there is pleasure, coiling tight. You wrap your legs around his waist, urging him on. Steve loses himself then, hips snapping forward with more force. The bed creaks rhythmically, the headboard thumping softly against the wall. Skin slaps against skin, wet and loud. His cock drives deep, bottoming out with each thrust, the head kissing your cervix in a way that blurs pain and ecstasy.

You cry out, a mix of moan and whimper. The room smells of sex now, sweat, arousal, the faint metallic hint you do not yet register. His body covers yours completely, chest rubbing against your breasts, the friction delicious on your sensitive nipples. Every thrust sends jolts through you, his pubic bone grinding against your clit.

Steve’s pace quickens, lost in the feeling. “Shit, baby, you feel incredible,” he growls, voice husky. His hands grip your hips, fingers bruising in their hold as he pounds harder, deeper. The intensity builds, your body adjusting somewhat, pleasure cresting in waves.

But then, he pulls back and thrusts in particularly deep, and you feel it. A sharp pop inside, followed by warmth trickling. Steve freezes mid-thrust, his body going rigid.

“What the—?” He looks down between you, eyes widening in horror. Blood. A smear of red on his cock as he withdraws slightly, staining the sheets beneath you. It is not much, but in the lamplight, it is unmistakable, vivid against your skin and his.

“Oh god,” Steve gasps, pulling out completely. The sudden emptiness leaves you aching, a dull throb where he had been. He scrambles back, sitting on his heels, his erection flagging slightly in shock. Panic floods his face, those pretty hazel eyes wide and guilty. “Fuck, I’m so sorry. I went too rough—I didn’t mean to… Are you okay? Shit, your period? I should’ve been more careful. I’m such an idiot.”

He reaches for you but hesitates, hands hovering like he is afraid to touch. The guilt in his voice is thick, raw. Steve Harrington, who has faced down monsters and survived, looks utterly devastated over this.

Your cheeks burn. The truth sits heavy on your tongue, shy and vulnerable. The blood is from your virginity breaking, not your cycle. You had not expected it to show so clearly, had not prepared for this moment. “Steve… it’s not my period,” you whisper, voice barely audible over the pounding of your heart. The room feels too quiet now, the air heavy with the coppery scent of blood mixing with the musk of your bodies.

He blinks, confusion creasing his brow. “What? Then what—?”

“It’s… my first time.” The words come out in a rush, shy whisper turning into confession. You pull the sheet up slightly, covering yourself, suddenly self-conscious under his gaze. “I didn’t want to tell you because… I’ve wanted you for so long. I didn’t want it to change anything.”

Steve’s face crumples. Devastation hits him like a wave. He runs a hand through his hair, tugging at the strands. “Your first time? Oh god, honey… I ruined it. I wanted it to be perfect for you—romantic, slow, with candles or some shit. Not me jackhammering like a damn animal.” His voice cracks, thick with self-reproach. He looks at the blood on the sheets, then at you, eyes glistening. “I hurt you. Fuck, I’m so sorry.”

Tears prick your eyes, not from pain but from the overwhelming love in his reaction. You sit up, ignoring the twinge between your legs, and reach for him. “Steve, no. You didn’t ruin anything. I wanted this. I still do.”

He pulls you into his arms anyway, careful now, like you are made of glass. His embrace is warm, enveloping. You can feel his heartbeat, frantic against your cheek as he presses your head to his chest. “I should’ve known. You were so tight… I got lost in it. God, I’m the worst.” But his hands are gentle, stroking your back in soothing circles, fingertips tracing your spine with feather-light touches. The scent of him surrounds you, comforting, familiar.

You pull back enough to look at him, cupping his face. Stubble rasps under your palms. “It wasn’t perfect, but it’s us. Real. That’s what matters.” Your voice gains strength. “I trust you, Steve. Please don’t stop loving me over this.”

His eyes soften, the panic ebbing into something deeper: affection, protectiveness. “Love you? Yeah… I think I do.” The words hang between you, tender and new. He kisses your forehead, then your eyelids, tasting the salt of unshed tears. “We’re gonna do this right. Slow. Tell me if anything hurts.”

He lays you back down, propping pillows under your head. The sheets are cool where they have not been stained, a stark contrast to the heat radiating from his body as he settles beside you, not over you. His hands explore again, but differently, reverent. He kisses every inch of skin he can reach: the dip of your collarbone, the soft swell of your breasts, the curve of your hip. Each press of his lips leaves a lingering warmth, his breath ghosting over sensitive areas and raising gooseflesh.

Between your legs, he is careful. A warm washcloth from the bathroom, damp and soothing, cleans the traces of blood and arousal. The water is just the right temperature, not shocking your overheated skin. “Does this hurt?” he asks each time, voice a low rumble.

“No,” you sigh, relaxing under his care. The sting has faded to a dull ache, overshadowed by the butterflies in your stomach.

Steve takes his time building you back up. Fingers return, slick with your renewed wetness and a bit of lube he fetches from the nightstand. The glide is easier now, two fingers scissoring gently, curling to find that spot again. Pleasure returns in slow waves, coiling low in your belly. You moan softly, the sound mingling with the wet, rhythmic sounds of his hand. His mouth joins, tongue lapping at your clit with long, flat strokes, warm, velvety, insistent. The taste of you on his tongue seems to drive him wild; he groans against you, vibrations adding to the sensation.

Your orgasm builds gradually, unlike the frantic climb before. It crashes over you in shudders, thighs clamping around his head as you cry out his name. Stars explode behind your eyes, body pulsing around his fingers. He does not stop until you are boneless, whimpering.

Only then does he move over you again, but slower. His cock nudges your entrance, slick and hot. “Tell me to stop if it’s too much,” he whispers, eyes locked on yours. The size difference is still there, his broad frame dwarfing yours but now it feels safe, protective.

He pushes in inch by inch, watching your face. The stretch returns, but gentler, the lube and your arousal easing the way. Fullness blooms, deep and satisfying. “Breathe, baby,” he coaches, pausing often. His hand intertwines with yours, thumb stroking your knuckles. Sweat slicks your joined bodies, making skin slide deliciously.

Fully seated, he stills, buried to the hilt. You feel every throb of him inside you, the heat, the girth. “So good,” you gasp, adjusting. The initial discomfort melts into pleasure as he begins to move, shallow rolls of his hips at first, grinding rather than thrusting.

The rhythm builds naturally. Steve’s breaths are ragged in your ear, hot and damp. “You feel like heaven,” he murmurs, kissing your neck. One hand supports his weight while the other caresses your breast, pinching lightly. Your bodies move together, slick sounds filling the air again, but softer, more intimate. The bed creaks in time with his thrusts, which grow deeper but controlled.

Pleasure mounts, different this time, fuller, more connected. You wrap your legs around him, heels digging into his lower back. His pubic hair tickles your skin with each meeting of hips. The scent is overwhelming: sex, sweat, Steve. You taste his skin when you kiss his shoulder, salty and warm.

“I’m close,” he groans, pace faltering slightly. His free hand slips between you, thumb circling your clit in perfect time. The dual sensation pushes you over first, orgasm ripping through you, walls clenching around his thick length. You moan loudly, nails raking down his back.

Steve follows with a deep, guttural sound, burying himself deep as he comes. Heat floods you, pulse after pulse, his cock twitching inside. He collapses carefully, not crushing you, face tucked into your neck.

For long minutes, you stay like that, connected, breathing each other in. His weight is comforting, grounding. Slowly, he pulls out, both of you hissing at the sensitivity. More cleanup, tender and unhurried. He fetches fresh sheets from the linen closet, the fabric cool and crisp as you help remake the bed, laughing softly at the awkwardness.

Lying together afterward, limbs tangled, Steve holds you close. His fingers trace lazy patterns on your arm, raising tiny shivers. “I’m still sorry it wasn’t perfect,” he says quietly, voice thick with emotion. “But damn… being with you like this? It’s the realest thing I’ve ever felt.”

You snuggle closer, inhaling his scent. “It was perfect because it was you.” Your hand rests over his heart, feeling its steady beat.

The night stretches on with more touches, soft kisses, whispered stories of how long you had wanted each other. Steve’s protectiveness shines through in every caress, every check-in. The size difference that had intimidated you now feels like shelter; his larger body curls around yours, one thigh thrown over your legs, arm draped possessively.

. ܁₊ ⊹ . ܁ ⟡ ܁ . ⊹ ₊ ܁. . ܁₊ ⊹ . ܁ ⟡ ܁ . ⊹ ₊ ܁. . ܁₊ ⊹ . ܁ ⟡ ܁ . ⊹ ₊ ܁. . ܁₊ ⊹ . ܁

Without knowing it, you only had a few good months before your parents would step in and lecture you about what's proper and how ladies don't close the door when there's a boy in the room.

By thirteen, you'd have to stop letting him in your room altogether. He'd be relegated to the living room under your parent's watchful eyes. No sharing blankets, one cushion between you on the couch, stiff side-hugs only. He would go from walking through the woods to your window, to going up the path to your door. All formality.

But, for the time being, Steve was in your room, and Steve was your best friend. And you had the top item on your wish list.

You exchanged the small gifts you'd managed to buy each other from the dollar store. You got Steve a Muppet Show lunchbox, and he got you a stuffed bear. Steve snuck you slices of fruitcake, which you both hated, and cups of eggnog, which were disgustingly spiked. Everything was warm and nice and it felt like the best night of your life.

Next year, you'd start middle school. Steve would meet Tommy Hagan, who would steal away most of his attention. And the year after, you'd meet Carol Perkins, who would steal away most of yours.

"So, who do you like?" She'd ask, laying on your bed while her fingernail polish dried. Her parents had dropped her off with ten bucks for the two of you to spend at Melvald's, which you'd splurged on candy and makeup.

"I dunno," you replied with a shrug. Really, no one at school caught your eye. You'd rather spend time with friends than worry about dating. Even at fourteen, your mother was already belaboring the fact that you were a dreaded late bloomer.

Carol's expression lit up. "We can play MASH and figure it out," she suggested. She grabbed your precious Snoopy stationery and a ballpoint pen, and quickly scribbled out your future.

"Magic number?" She asked. You closed your eyes and tried to will the universe, or god, or fate, or whatever to speak through you.

"Ummm… Nine."

A few minutes later, Carol sat up with a smug grin. "Okay, the oracle has spoken," she said with all of the grandeur she could muster. "You're going to be a doctor, have a pet turtle, have two kids, and live in a house with… Steve."

The searing, gut wrenching heat of embarrassment flooded your system. Married? And to Steve? "That's so stupid," you replied, but Carol kept digging.

"Aw… you're totally blushing!" She teased, as your face grew hotter and hotter. If you could have, you would have crawled under your bed to die. "No, it's sweet! No wonder you don't have crushes on anyone. You're totally crazy for Steve."

You didn't think that was true. Steve was a gross boy. He spat on the sidewalk and puked up Slurpees on your shoes over the summer and when the weather turned he got really snotty and disgusting.

Sure, you hadn't really had any crushes yet, but that was because you were such good friends with Steve, and it was hard to find someone who you'd rather spend time with. What was a crush if not a really good friend? A friend who you'd want to kiss?

Had you ever wanted to kiss Steve? Had you wanted to kiss anyone yet?

"I don't want to have two kids with Steve either," you argued, but Carol just grinned.

"Do you even know how it works?" She questioned. At your silence, she laughed. It didn't feel mean, just that she was grateful to finally know something you didn't already. "Aren't your parents doctors, or something? They're totally sheltering you. It's fine, I can tell you. My sister told me all about it. She says it's the best thing in the world."

Freshman year, you discovered that you did want to kiss people. Steve. You wanted to kiss Steve.

Steve had gotten taller over the summer, and his voice was deeper, and just being around him had started making you dizzy. You stole your mother's Avon perfume and begged her to order you more after Steve commented on how nice it smelled. Carol snuck you makeup, which you had to put on in a tiny mirror hidden inside of your locker, and take off before your parents got home.

Because of the constant surveillance, you spent more time at his house. His parents didn't care if he brought over girls, and they figured since he'd known you since you were both in grade school, nothing would ever happen. You tried not to feel insulted.

So you sat in Steve's room and listened to your favorite records. And after all of this time, you still loved the Bee Gees. Steve still preferred Queen.

"What are you wearing to Carol's birthday party?" He asked from behind a copy of Sports Illustrated. "And what are you gonna get her? Girls are so hard to buy for."

You looked up from your spot by the window, where you had lost yourself staring out into the woods. "Uh… I bought her some eyeshadow and nail polish," you said absently. "It's kind of hard, she's so different than me."

Steve grinned. "That's 'cause you're still a baby," he said, and you hated the way your stomach twisted at the words. You knew he didn't mean anything hurtful by them, but it still made you feel a little pathetic. "Speaking of… Tommy said Brian's coming. And he told me that Brian thinks you're really pretty."

You fought back an expression of disgust. Brian was in your biology lab and got detention for tying the poor dissection frog's limbs to pencils and playing with it like a marionette. Brian was a stupid meathead, and he wasn't even very cute.

"Brian is disgusting," you said weakly. "And everyone Tommy tries to set me up with is a total dud. I wish he'd just stop trying.

Steve put the magazine down and sighed. "Tommy's just trying to help," he insisted. "He doesn't want you to feel left out."

There was a lump in your throat that you couldn't swallow down. "I'm not left out," you said, but it felt so defensive and pathetic. "The only people dating right now are Carol and Tommy. You're single too."

Steve made a face then, but you tried to ignore it. Baby, baby, baby. Your inexperience was beginning to feel like a scarlet letter, not that Steve would have understood the reference if you tried to explain.

You loved Steve, and Carol, and Tommy, but a lot of the time you felt like you were just dead weight around them. The baby of the group. The responsible one. The stick in the mud.

Carol's birthday was supposed to change that. Her parents were out of town, and her older sister, Debbie, bought her wine coolers since Carol had promised not to snitch the next time she snuck out to go be with a boy.

The wine coolers gave you a little liquid courage, Carol let you know that you'd all be playing seven minutes in heaven later, and she'd rigged it so you and Steve would go into the closet together. Foolproof, in her eyes. Terrifying in yours.

Steve went into the closet first, blindfolded because Carol thought it would be more fun that way. His cheeks were pink, and everyone jeered as Carol tied the bandana over his eyes.

She held up the next name silently, winking in your direction. There were giggles and snickers, but you stood, wiped your sweaty palms on your jeans, and stepped into the closet. This was it, you thought. You'd kiss Steve, he'd immediately realize it's you, and you'd be boyfriend and girlfriend.

The door shut, you took a shaky breath. You felt like you were going to pass out, or something. Your mouth tasted sickly sweet like the wine coolers, and you could hear a crowd gathering around the door. Footsteps and giggles.

"Aren't you going to say something?" Steve's voice cut through the dark of the room. You swallowed hard and leaned forward.

It was a simple, if not a little boring kiss. But you really didn't know any better. A chaste, prolonged peck. Mouths closed, hands at your side.

You pulled back, heart racing eyes wide in the dark of the room. You could barely make out the shape of him.

"Y/N?" He pulled off the bandana, brows knit. "You didn't have to do that. We can just talk."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. Even in the dark, he was so handsome. You wanted to tell him that you wanted to kiss him, that you wanted to try again, if that was okay.

But Steve beat you to the punch. "Man, I wish I got paired with Lisa," he mumbled. "No, offense. I just mean, you're my friend, and we don't like each other that way."

Then softer, "Was that your first kiss?"

It was a miracle that the closet was dark enough that he couldn't see the sparkle of tears in your eyes. Humiliated, mortified tears.

There were five minutes left that you used to collect yourself, but everyone outside knew how it had gone. When Lisa giggled at your forlorn expression, Carol pulled her aside to bitch her out and send her home.

That was Carol— she'd never let someone hurt you. Not on purpose, at least.

By Monday at school, Carol told Tommy everything, which meant his expression held an amount of pity in it that made you sick. Steve was sitting with Lisa at lunch, which made it all worse.

"It's just a tough break," he said, with that typical boyish attitude. He believed everything he'd been told growing up— Walk it off, Hagan. Be a man. "You know how Steve is. The sooner you get over him, the sooner things'll be back to normal."

The implication behind his words was clear enough— Steve's not interested, so move on, or suffer through. What choice did you have but to move on? To shed your cocoon and fit in with your friends?

But you knew well enough that each time you told Steve about a new date or a guy you were interested in, it was all with the hopes of making him burn with jealousy. Steve didn't burn for you, he just wanted you to be happy.

Steve was your friend. That's all he'd ever be, all he wanted to be. You could learn to live with that. You tried to live with that and shove every bitter, nasty feeling down deep.

Sophomore year, you came into your own. A few months at summer camp with Carol meant a world of development. Your first perm, and all of the trials and tribulations of learning to style the big, bouncy curls. A cabin of girls who loved nothing more than teaching you the right ways to apply makeup. Your figure finally took shape, and Carol's sister was happy to pass along hand-me-downs to accentuate it.

Danny Miller was your first real boyfriend. He was co-captain of the swim team with Steve, and, sure, he wouldn't have been your first pick, but he was a cute guy. Despite attending all of Steve's swim meets, you had never paid attention to him before. You doubted he noticed you until then either.

"Danny is a total tool," Steve told you over a plate of cheese fries from Benny's. You made a face, and stole a bite from his plate, but he doubled down. "Hey, I'm serious! He's dumb as rocks, you're way too smart to be with him. What do you even talk about?"

You scoffed. "I dunno," you said with a shrug. "Same things we talk about, I guess. Everything? I don't know."

Steve scowled, rolling his eyes. "He's a total loser, I'm serious. You're so out of his league it isn't even funny. You shouldn't waste your time with a guy like him. Don't even let him touch you, alright? I mean it."

Your face wrinkled in annoyance. His protectiveness felt stifling and infantalizing. You weren't a baby, you could make choices about your love life without Steve butting in.

Besides, Danny was a total sweetheart. He brought you flowers, and walked you to class. Sure, he wasn't the brightest bulb in the bunch, but he was good to you, and that's all you could really ask for.

And, really, It felt nice to be into someone after spending so long pining after Steve.

By your junior year, you'd gotten pretty serious. Steve still hated to hear you talk about Danny, just like you never liked any of the girls he brought around. The only difference was that Danny had staying power, which just pissed him off even more.

"You used to tell me stuff," he said one weekend, when you sneaked away from a neighborhood party to avoid your parents in the woods. Smoke curled from his lips on the exhale as he smoked a cigarette. A new nasty habit that had developed over the summer, which only drew attention to how full and kissable his lips were.

He was only getting more handsome, which you needed to stop thinking about for Danny's sake. "Why didn't you tell me that Daniel Miller popped your cherry?" He grinned, and you could smell the beer on his breath from your spot beside him.

Your eyes widened and you nearly choked on your wine cooler. "Oh my god, Steve," you gasped. "Jesus, don't say it like that."

"Aw… don't be embarrassed," he teased, nudging you clumsily.

It wasn't like you were actually embarrassed about it. What was there to be embarrassed about? You slept with your boyfriend of nearly a year, which was longer than anyone else you knew had waited. You felt sure, and you really did care about Danny.

"It's just… personal," you said. You crossed your arms, wrapping them around yourself, and looked anywhere but at Steve.

"You used to talk to me," He said, and the hurt was evident in every syllable. "Why didn't you tell me? I mean, I had to find out from Tommy. How the hell does Tommy know more about my best friend than I do?"

"Well, I didn't tell Tommy," you insisted. "I told Carol and Tina. And, I mean, I guess I should have known Carol would tell Tommy, and that Tommy would tell you. But… I dunno, I thought it would be weird to talk about with you. You can't stand him anyway."

And there was that word he'd said. Best friend. For a while, you had wondered if that was even a fair title to put on each other. If you were honest with yourself, Carol had been your best friend since you were both thirteen. And Steve was more like a safety blanket from childhood— comfortable, familiar, safe. You had grown apart since you were kids.

"Yeah, maybe," he replied, and took another swig of beer. You leaned against a tree and drank your stolen wine cooler. It tasted sickly sweet and made your head feel a little fuzzy. Steve definitely had the better tolerance of the two of you, but even he was pretty buzzed by now.

"It was kind of lame, honestly," you admitted. "Nothing to write home about. Carol says it'll get way better."

Steve wrinkled his nose. "Yeah, on second thought, I really don't want to talk about it." Fair enough. You stole his cigarette and took a drag. It sucked, but it gave you something to do.

When you looked back, you'd find it hard to remember what started the fight. It had been a few weeks since the block party, and things had just felt off.

And Steve, being Steve, was flaking on your plans. The Hawk had finally gotten Eddie and the Cruisers, and he had promised he would go with you. And, sure, it wasn't a huge deal. They'd have showings for the next month at least, but something about it just really pissed you off.

"I can't believe you're bailing on me for some girl, Steve," you pressed. "This is so typical, you know that? All you do lately is think with your dick."

"Oh my god," he groaned, throwing himself back on his bed with exasperation. "I'm going on a date with a girl I really like, not screwing some hooker. Not that you seem to care."

You bristled, brows drawing together. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Steve threw a hand over his eyes, rubbing at his temples like it was giving him a headache to even entertain the argument. "You get weird every time I have a girlfriend, like you want me to just ignore them for you or something. And it's been like this for a while, and I never say anything because Carol always tells me to drop it."

A scoff of disbelief escaped you as you shook your head. What? You'd been totally supportive of all of his stupid, pointless, dead end relationships. And he was talking shit to Carol? "You are such a goddamn liar, Steve," you argued. "I'm always so welcoming and nice to all of the girls you bring around. Like Becky, Laurie, Amy, Stacey—"

"Oh, right! Stacey. The same Stacey that you, Carol, and Tina told everyone had chlamydia? That Stacey?"

Your face felt hot. "Well, one, that was actually true and she only got treatment after we called her out, so she should be really grateful. And two, it wasn't my fault she was a total skank."

Steve had a problem. He picked women like an act of self-sabotage. Becky was beautiful, but was really using him to make her ex boyfriend jealous. Laurie seemed sweet at first, but was a total social climber. Amy seemed really perfect when they first started going together, but her laugh was ridiculous and she totally harshed the vibe at every party. And, well, Stacey maybe, allegedly, potentially had chlamydia.

Maybe he should have just picked better.

Or maybe you were the problem. The bitchy, judgemental friend who never saw any of them as good enough for Steve, because none of them were you. You knew the answer, even if you would never admit it to him.

Steve rolled his eyes, and you watched the flutter of muscle in his jaw as he bit back whatever it was he wanted to say. It fucking infuriated you.

"What?" You demanded. And you doubled down, because the alternative would be to admit you had been sabotaging his love life any way you could. Starting rumors, whispering in his ear until he convinced himself that something was wrong. "You're just mad because you know I'm right and you totally abandon our friendship whenever you start fucking around with whoever is next on your roster."

"Abandon you? Jesus Christ," he muttered. "Like you didn't totally toss me to the curb when you started dating Mr. Perfect last year."

Your face twisted in annoyance— a little furrow between your brows, a frustrated scowl. Steve always said you looked adorable when you were pissed off, but he didn't look too fond of you now. "What the fuck is your problem with him, huh?" You demanded. "You act like he's this horrible guy, but you can never tell me why you think he's so terrible."

Steve rolled his eyes and finally sat up to meet your gaze. "Okay, fine. He's annoying. His laugh makes me want to blow my goddamn brains out. He always smells like chlorine because he doesn't shower after practice, and sometimes it makes you smell like chlorine. And when he doesn't smell like chlorine, it smells like he bathed in cologne. Also, he thinks that he's so much better than me, when he barely beat my record in freestyle."

Steve paused, like he was debating whether or not to really round it out and say what he was thinking. Finally, he laughed and met your gaze. "Or maybe it's just that you don't really love him and it's really obvious to everyone but him," he said. "Or maybe, you should just accept that the person you really want doesn't want you back."

A sick feeling rose in your gut. There was something in his expression, in the mean cut of his stare, the sharp way he held his mouth. Like he knew. Carol would never say something, but Tommy…

"I don't know what you're talking about," you said, but even you didn't believe that. You liked Danny, but you didn't love him the way Carol and Tommy loved each other, even as tumultuous and messy as that could be. And the most frustrating part of all was that you wanted to love Danny, but your frustrating infatuation with Steve had burrowed into you and festered into a romance-killing parasite.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Steve insisted. Your heart thrummed, and you felt dizzy with embarrassment and hurt.

Had he known the entire time? Didn't he owe it to you to shut you down sooner? Of course not. Of course Steve would milk your doting affection for him until it got inconvenient for him.

"You know what? I don't have to put up with this shit. I don't have to put up with you."

You grabbed your bag and headed for his door, but you wanted him to stop you. But he just ran a hand over his face and sighed. "Yeah, go ahead. I have to get ready for my date anyway. You know the way out."

Carol thought it was stupid. She told you as much over the phone, as you cried into the receiver about how permanent the argument felt. Sure, you'd fought with Steve over the years, but it never felt so personal.

All you'd learned from the argument was that you were always going to put Steve first like a total chump. And you'd known for too long that he wouldn't do the same. Well, and that he was totally uninterested in your girlish fawning anymore.

"You're probably mad because he's right," Carol said. "Not about everything, but about you not being super into Danny. You know you don't have to just stick with him because he's nice and he's into you, right?"

You sighed, lip wobbling. Your other choices seemed to be waiting for lightning to strike Steve and change his mind, or being alone forever. "I guess," you mumbled.

"I'm serious, you're a total catch, and you don't need to stick with the first good guy to give you attention." You could hear the smack of bubblegum on the other side of the line. "Just don't do it right away or it'll make Steve think he's right."

You laughed, a weak, watery sound. "When do you think he realized?"

Carol sighed. "Look…" He said, trailing off. The quiet on the line felt tangible and thick until her voice cut through again. "He's mentioned it to Tommy a few times since Sophomore year, but Tommy would have never said anything. But maybe he has a point about moving on."

You swallowed hard around the lump in your throat… or tried to. "Yeah," you murmured. "Maybe. Maybe I just need a break from Steve to clear my head. Like, a week or two, or something."

"Aw, hon…" Carol trailed off. "Hey, I'll go see the movie with you! I was supposed to go over to Tommy's for dinner, but this is way more important."

A few days later, some kid went missing in the woods. Then Benny died and your favorite burger place in the world shut down. Steve had a party that he didn't extend an invite to, and his new girlfriend's friend went missing too.

Then there was the fight with Tommy and Carol, lashing out after he got cheated on, or when he thought he got cheated on. It was hard to know when everything was secondhand from Carol.

"He had a real attitude, I'll say that much," Carol muttered. You both curled up in her bed, staring up at the sticky stars on her ceiling. "He's probably freaked because the cops told his dad about the drinking, and Barbara went missing after his party, so… I mean, you know how his dad is. Me and Tommy tried to cheer him up, but he got mad at us for that too. I dunno, I think we all just need to cool off."

You didn't need to cool off. You threw yourself into Danny, hoping you could prove Steve wrong and make yourself fall for your boyfriend with distance.

Even without seeing Steve, his words echoed in your brain. Skipping lunch to make out in Danny's car, you nearly gagged on the smell of chlorine as it flooded your senses. And god… his laugh really was ear-splitting. Like a cackle.

By the start of senior year, Carol and Tommy had pretty much made up with Steve, but Steve was dating Nancy, who didn't want anything to do with the pair. You were newly single, but still giving him the cold shoulder.

It was nice, to see him in the halls and feel nothing. Not the tug of attraction or the spark of interest. You looked at him from your locker and just saw plain old Steve Harrington. Steve who was just as flawed as anybody else.

You took comfort in that.

Senior year passed like any other. Carol didn't care to apply for colleges, and Tommy had a job lined up at his dad's dealership. You got accepted into a state school on scholarship, and you told your parents that you were going to study nursing, just like they had, but you had no clue if that's what you really wanted.

Carol and Tommy decided to get married in June of 1985. They'd been dating since 1979, so even though it was sudden, you figured it was about time.

"Shotgun wedding," Carol explained. Well… that made more sense. "The doctor says it was conceived on Valentine's Day. What a gift, right?" She rolled her eyes.

Your bridesmaid dress was pink, with big princess sleeves and a full skirt. Carol loved it… you tolerated it. That's what a maid of honor was for.

Carol was a beautiful bride, though, and you just wanted her to be happy. Which is why you didn't say anything about Steve being the best man. You could tolerate him for Carol and Tommy's sake. It was a small town, anyway, and you had learned that he was totally unavoidable.

"You look nice," Steve said at the reception. He'd cornered you at the dessert table. You knew that was objectively untrue— you looked ridiculous in your bridesmaid's dress and your perm was just on the wrong side of too crispy.

Steve, on the other hand, looked great. It was annoying how much more attractive he'd gotten. Broader, and just older. He'd grown into every feature, and he looked so handsome you couldn't stand it. "You got highlights," you said, because it was easier than complimenting him back.

"Uh… no, it's just… I've been in the sun," he said. Liar. He tried to recover, bless his heart. "Tommy told me you're going to study to be a nurse," he tried again. "That's… y'know… kinda cool. You can practice on me, if you want. I'm always managing to get myself hurt."

You closed your eyes and sighed. Carol's dad was a recovering alcoholic, and she was knocked up, so it was a dry wedding. You wished there was at least some champagne. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

He swallowed. "Are you mad at me?"

You scoffed. It would have been embarrassing to say yes so far removed, but the answer wasn't entirely no either. You weren't sure how you felt about Steve in that moment. Maybe you were still the same jealous, bitter girl you had been at sixteen. "I'm not mad."

"Yeah you are, you have your mad crinkle," he accused. He poked you between your brows with a familiar smile on his face, which made you feel hot all over. Anger? Excitement? Who's to say. "You are mad. What are you mad about?"

With a huff and a roll of your eyes, you grabbed a slice of wedding cake. Steve did the same, and followed you back to the table for the wedding party. You took a bite and enjoyed it as best you could while still maintaining the annoyed furrow in your brow.

"I'm not mad," you repeated. "We just don't have anything to talk about."

His brow knit and his expression twisted in confusion. He took a bite of his cake, and you could see the way his expression softened at the taste. God, it was really good cake. "We haven't talked in almost two years, so I think there's a lot we can talk about."

"Fine, I don't want to talk to you, is that better?" You asked. It was a miracle that you didn't have to school your expression or your volume. The lights were low and the band onstage was doing their best not to butcher Duran Duran… very loudly. "You were a total dick to me."

That seemed to strike a nerve. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about," he pressed. "I was a great friend to you. I don't think one stupid argument changes that."

"One stupid argument is so rich," you pressed. "You knew I was, like, in love with you and you just let me dote on you like a lovesick puppy until it got inconvenient. You could have shut me down when we were fourteen."

"I thought I was," he argued back. "But, yeah, maybe I thought it was cute how into me you were. I was an asshole who liked the attention, alright?"

He ran a hand through his hair, and you could feel the irritation rolling off of him in waves. The band was now butchering Cyndi Lauper, which only seemed to irritate him further. He turned away from you, scowling, but didn't leave.

Why wouldn't he just leave you alone?

"And, okay, fine. I was a dick about Danny, but you were actively sabotaging every single one of my relationships," he said. "So I think we're even."

You were, notably, not even. As you sat, angrily stabbing the delicious wedding cake that you wouldn't be finishing, Tina approached with a wary expression. She looked ridiculous in her bridesmaid's dress, so you were sure you looked equally clownish. Her eyes flicked between you and Steve, briefly, before she pulled two flasks from her clutch.

Your eyes brightened at the sight. Like an oasis in a goddamn desert.

"Paul and I snuck in flasks for the rest of the bridal party. Can I trust you two?" You nodded and immediately reached out, but she pulled back. "I don't want you guys to do anything to ruin this for Carol and Tommy. Promise?"

You glanced at Steve, who was already looking at you. "Yeah, Tina, we promise," you insisted.

When you looked back on that night, the first sip of whatever liquor Tina and Paul had poured into the flasks was the beginning of the end.

It was an hour later, with a bitter taste on your tongue and heat burning through your veins, that you found Steve on the dance floor. The wedding was already dying down, giving the last few feeble twitches of energy like a dying animal. Carol's little cousins were dancing to Paula Abdul, or requesting Weird Al songs to no avail. A few of Tommy's cousins were getting a little hot and heavy on the dance floor which was odd for a dry wedding.

Carol had one final request before she got to head off to the honeymoon suite at the Holiday Inn off the interstate. The only pictures I have of you and Steve are the awkward wedding party photos you two took this morning. Can you just dance with him or something so the photographer can get some candids?

After a deep breath to steel yourself, you tapped Steve on his shoulder. "Can I cut in?"

He turned, brows furrowed. "You're only supposed to say that if I'm dancing with someone," he replied, but without saying anything, he eased his arms around your waist.

Carol whispered something to Debbie's newest boyfriend, who was manning the sound system in the absence of the live entertainment. You watched curiously as she fumbled through 45s, until a new song crackled over the speakers.

Crazy for You had been the final slow dance at prom. Carol had sworn that you and Steve were the only people to resist the pull of the dance floor, but she had a penchant for exaggeration. And a sick sense of humor.

You looped your arms around Steve's neck and swayed to the music. He was hot at his neck, hair curling and damp beneath your fingers. You braved a look up at him and felt a rush of ice through your veins and into your rapidly beating heart.

"What was in your flask?"You asked, trying to think of the least offensive topic of conversation that you could. "I got bourbon, or whiskey, I think. I smell like Mr. Holloway from the country club."

"I think I got gin," he said, and your nose wrinkled in distaste. Your first taste of gin had been at ten years old after you stole his mother's martini at a country club party. Neither of you had much interest in stealing drinks after that— not for a while, at least. "It's disgusting, but being sober at a wedding should be illegal."

You would drink to that if you could stomach it. You both moved in a soft cadence— step, hold, step, hold. There was something about the comforting pressure of his skin against your body. The way his hands slid from your waist down to your lower back, just above the bustle of bows at your hips, the pressure of your chest against his body. It made everything else sort of melt away.

You weren't sixteen anymore. You didn't have to keep holding onto your childish grudges. So, Steve Harrington wasn't madly in love with you? What was it your mother used to say? Life's not fair, and then you die. You were both dumb kids, but things could change. Life wasn't fair, and you didn't know if you wanted to keep existing without Steve somewhere in your life.

"Your hair looks nice, actually," you said, after swallowing your pride. "It's really long, actually. I can't believe your dad isn't on your case about it."

He laughed and shook his head. "Well, I'm giving him plenty of other things to totally hate me for." He paused and met your gaze, hesitating. You watched the slow twitch of a smile on his lips, then a tiny eye roll as he got over his own ego. "And it's not highlights. It's sun-in. What about you, huh?"

"Me? Oh, this is all Darlene at Hair Flair. My usual stylist was out, and Darlene is really new to perms. She promised it would be fine, but…" You blew a very crisp curl from your forehead. "I think I'm done with perms forever."

He shook his head. "It's not so bad," he insisted. "You should see my new uniform for work. That's pretty bad. If you're sticking around for the summer, you might even get to see it."

You rolled your eyes, but couldn't fight the amused smile on your lips. This was the Steve that you missed— charming, goofy Steve. But it was also the Steve that gave you butterflies and made you feel like a girl with a stupid crush. It was absolutely devastating how quickly a brief conversation could dig up all of those buried feelings.

"Yeah, well, if it's that bad I have to," you said, biting down on your bottom lip to fight a giddy, girlish smile.

It was hard to look in Steve's eyes for long. You could easily get lost in the softness of them, the earnestness. You had before, until he snapped about how you weren't even listening and you had to clumsily string together what he had said with the odd words that crept through your trance. His lips twitched into the tiniest smile, and you couldn't help but mirror it. You had really missed him.

A camera clicked— once, twice, three times. Some kid Tommy got cheap for the job since he worked for the school paper and was building his portfolio. Steve spun you until you laughed, then pulled you back in. The photographer walked away, satisfied. Your heart thrummed, pulsing, pulsing.

Steve. Wedding. Bourbon. Madonna.

"Hey, do you want to sneak out for a smoke?"

You sat on the trunk of his beamer, satin heels kicking mindlessly. You took a slow drag and relished in the subtle head rush before you exhaled. Steve's hand brushed yours as he took the cigarette from you.

"I don't really do this anymore," he said, holding the cigarette between his teeth. But he took a drag of his own, and blew the smoke out of the side of his mouth. "Nancy thought it was gross, and this kid who hangs around me all the time is on my ass about cancer and secondhand smoke, so… y'know."

"I don't really smoke either," you said with a tiny grin. "Just wanted to get out of there."

He nodded, stepping forward until his leg brushed the bumper. "Yeah? That's fair." He took another drag before handing it back. You watched him as you placed the filter between your lips, where it was already stained pink with your makeup.

Earlier, he had mentioned that there were two years worth of conversations you could be having, but in that moment, your head was woefully empty.

Steve was standing so close, and the cigarette could only last so long. "You look really beautiful tonight," he said. "I mean it, seriously. I'm glad you're not mad at me anymore so I can actually tell you."

You raised a brow, blowing out a thin plume of smoke. "I could still be mad," you insisted, cigarette dangling between your hot-pink nails.

"Your crinkle is gone." He stepped closer, so his knee was between yours, and smoothed his thumb between your brows. "Not mad."

His hand moved into your hair, until he was cupping your jaw. You wondered if he could feel the way your pulse was racing against his fingers. A tiny bit of pressure at your jaw, and he had your face tilted up to meet his.

The moment his lips pressed against yours, you could have sworn you were fourteen and back in Carol's basement, with all the same fluttery, yearning feelings.

And then his tongue slipped past the barrier of your lips and those butterflies turned molten in the pit of your stomach. Heat licked down every nerve, until your entire body felt alive with excitement and need.

He moaned into your mouth, one arm wrapping around your waist, pulling you to the edge of the trunk so your bodies were flush against one another.

It felt like you were on fire— burning up from the outside in. Each lap of his tongue against yours, each moan buzzing against your lips, it just made you feel alive. Sure, you'd been kissed before, but it had never felt quite like this.

The dull thrum of pop music inside of the venue, the June heat persisting even in the dark of the night. His lips tasted like berries and his tongue like gin, and if were possible to get drunk off of that, you would have. You could have stayed there forever, just kissing and kissing until you ran out of air.

"Ah, Fuck," you gasped, pulling back. You dropped the cigarette butt, which had burned down to your fingers, and brought the mildly singed skin to your lips.

You laughed shyly as he stepped back, his lips and cheeks pink as he scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry, I don't know if I should have done that."

"No, no," you said, nodding as you tried to find the words to insist it's totally fine, if your stupid, clumsy tongue would cooperate.

His brows knit together, and he gave a sheepish laugh. "You're nodding, but you're also saying no, so it's kind of confusing me."

You pulled him in by his stupid, pink bow tie, until his nose bumped yours and your lips were barely brushing. "Don't think too hard."

He closed the distance.

You kissed Steve until your lips felt a little numb against his, until his hands were under your skirt, squeezing your soft thighs, pushing them apart so his hand can slip higher and higher.

"Steve," you breathed, his name like a prayer.

He pulled back, pupils blown. "Yeah?" His voice was breathless and a little raspy. You'd never heard him like that before.

"Should we get in your car?"

"Yeah," he says, helping you hop down from the trunk. You had lost one of your satin heels somewhere beneath his car, and stood awkwardly as Steve fumbled with his keys. When he finally got his car unlocked, he opened the door to the backseat with a small flourish that he seemed to immediately regret. "After you."

With the doors closed, the backseat was cramped. The bridesmaid dress was bulky with the tulle underskirt, which made getting comfortable a bit of an issue.

"Maybe if you sit up, I can just…" You pushed his shoulders against the backseat and swung one leg over his lap. "Like this?"

He nods eagerly, and immediately runs his hands up your thighs. He leans in, kissing along your throat with hungry, wet smacks. "You know," he began, sucking just beneath your jaw. "I didn't think this was how my night would end."

"No?" You panted, sitting up to help him work your panties down your thighs. He gave up halfway and just tore them where he could, which sent a thrill through you.

He grinned like a dopey idiot and shook his head. His fingers found your slick, needy core and you both moaned at that first touch— exploratory and revealing. "Jesus, not at all."

Your brows knit as you bucked against his fingers, eyes fluttering as his thumb teased over your clit. You weren't totally oblivious—plenty of Steve's girlfriends had come to you and Carol to spill about their exploits. Steve Harrington knew exactly what he needed to do to make his partner melt into a puddle.

"You're so sensitive," he murmured against your skin. "Wish I could just touch you everywhere."

"We don't have time," you panted, breath stuttering as he slid a finger inside of your cunt. You whined at the intrusion, walls fluttering and clenching. "Have to get back for the send off or people will notice if we're missing."

Already, you wondered if Carol and Tommy had noted your absence. Maybe the excitement of the wedding had distracted them, which would give you a little more time. The thought of being caught fucking around outside of their wedding was a little mortifying.

But Steve wasn't in a hurry. His hand moved between your thighs, working you open on his thick fingers. It was hard to complain about timing when it felt so good.

"We can skip foreplay," You panted, head lolling back. "It's fine."

He shook his head, pulling back to meet your eyes. "Are you always this bossy?" He asked, and curled his fingers to rub against a spot that made your eyes roll back. You watched his lips curl into a smirk.

The smug asshole. "Don't be a dick," you murmured. You unsnapped his stupid cummerbund and tried your best to unfasten his pants, but your stupidly big skirt was in the way.

You huffed, trying to push the tulle layers to the side, while Steve watched with thinly veiled amusement. "Looks pretty annoying," he said. He finally pulled his fingers from inside of you and licked them clean. "You could always take it off."

A laugh escaped you, and you shook your head. "No way. This stupid, ugly bridesmaid dress is staying on in case we get caught."

You finally worked the button and zip of his pants open, and immediately pulled his cock from the confines of his briefs. Your stomach did a goddamn somersault at the sight.

Junior year, Amy Davis had talked to you and Carol at a party after she and Steve went all the way. When you asked how it went, she grinned and said, well, he's really big. You had sorely underestimated what that meant.

"Oh, fuck," you murmured, circling your fingers around the base of him. "My hand barely fits around you. How the hell are you going to fit inside of me?"

It wasn't hard to notice the flicker of pure pride in his expression, the sheer ego boost you'd given him. "Well, that's why I wanted to get you stretched on my fingers first. I was being a gentleman."

You gave a slow glide of your fist, heart pounding in your ears. God, you'd fantasized about this so much, and now it was actually happening. He moaned beneath you, hips bucking into your grasp, twitching and leaking precum with each pump.

"Okay, Jesus," he groaned. His eyes were half lidded as he watched you jerking him off. "Fuck, that's good. Like that, just like that."

Your core ached with need, just listening to him moaning beneath you. You bit your lip as you tried your best to hold up your skirts and position yourself to sink down on his cock. "Fuck, can you hold my dress?"

He obeyed quickly, gathering up your dress and holding it so you could see what you were doing. Your thighs were already shaking, so were your hands. God, you were trembling all over with nerves, anticipation, want.

You sank onto his cock slowly, letting yourself adjust to his size. The stretch was uncomfortable at first, but you were so wet and desperate for it that any ache just melted into background noise. The hand that wasn't holding your skirts wrapped around your waist to support your descent.

"God, look at you," he groaned, forehead pressing against yours. "Taking it like a champ, yeah? You feel so goddamn good." You whined softly, taking the last few inches until his cock was fully sheathed within you. He dropped your skirt and just held your jaw so he could plant soft kisses on your lips.

"Steve," you panted as you began to move against him. It wasn't slow or sweet— it was desperate and hungry and carnal. The beamer rocked on its axles in time with your movements, each glide of your hips sent it careening forward.

Your hands dug into the backseat on either side of him to balance yourself as you moved. He kissed you again, slow and sweet, in total juxtaposition to the needy way you fucked yourself onto him.

"Fuck—" His hands slid down to your hips, guiding your movements and giving himself leverage to fuck into you. "You feel so good. So goddamn good."

The windows had gone foggy, so the street lights outside became a dim, golden glow through the windows. You silenced his rambling mouth with another kiss and relish in the feeling of his tongue lapping against yours.

He pulled back, a dopey smile on his lips before he popped a thumb in his mouth to wet it. "Hold on," he panted as he moved his hand beneath your skirt and rubbed your clit. You cried out softly, tightening around him. You could feel your rhythm going jerky and clumsy with just that simple touch. "That's better, isn't it?"

"God, yeah," you moaned, fingers dimpling the leather of the seats. Your thighs shook with the effort to maintain your rhythm as your body wanted to cave to pure pleasure. He grinned, kissing along your jaw and throat as he played with you. "Fuck, Steve. Feels so good."

He moaned against your throat, nipping gently as you rode him desperately. You were so close, and, god, you'd never felt like this in your life. Danny had been fine— good, even! But Steve was so attentive and affectionate, so skilled. Or, god, maybe skill had nothing to do with it. Maybe the wanting was the important part.

As you got closer, your moans got whinier. Sweat dripped down your spine, disappearing into the low back of your bridesmaid dress. The car felt hot and clammy, and you could see trails where moisture dripped down the foggy windows.

"C'mon," he goaded, nipping at your jaw. "I feel you squeezing around me, I know you're right there."

Your stomach flipped, and you whined as you buried your head in his shoulder. Close. So fucking close. You turned your head to kiss him again, and then you were gone.

Your body trembled with the intensity of your climax, as you moaned and gasped into the kiss. He worked you through it, guiding your hips the way you needed, until he came right along with you with a rough groan against your lips.

"I've missed you," you panted against his mouth, breathing hard as you came down. "I've missed you so much."

He closed his eyes, cheeks pink, chest heaving. He kissed your cheek, soft and sweet, and rubbed your thigh beneath your skirts.

"Yeah," he murmured. "I missed you too."

You stayed there for a moment longer, with Steve still buried inside of you. You kissed his throat affectionately, until you finally climbed off of him.

Both of you were wrecked. The pink sateen of your dress was irreparably wrinkled, and the humidity in the car had deflated both of your hairdos. And that wasn't to mention Steve's cum dripping out of you.

"So," you said, sparing a shy glance. "Tommy said you're sticking around Hawkins this fall."

Steve nodded, still a little breathless. "Oh, um, yeah. It's totally lame, but—"

"No," you insisted. "No, I mean, it sounds really nice to me. Definitely better than going to nursing school. I don't even want to go."

He swallowed, and a flicker of something passed across his features. He sat in the silence for a long moment before he cleared his throat. "We should probably head back in before Carol and Tommy send a search party, yeah?"

You bit your lip and nodded. "Yeah, of course." You couldn't hide the giddy affect to your voice, the hope in it.

Maybe this was just how things were always supposed to be. Maybe you had found each other again at just the right time.

But then a week passed, then another. You waited for him to call, or to stop by your window, or even just give you a sign that something had happened. That what you did meant something to him, the way it meant something to you.

Radio goddamn silence.

Tommy and Carol weren't any help. They hadn't heard anything, apparently, but Steve was busy with work, and there's this crazy stuff with his Dad, and it's probably just not top of mind.

It didn't make you feel any better. You couldn't go to Starcourt without feeling like you were navigating a mine field. You'd see Steve, mopping sticky floors or scooping ice cream, but the second he'd notice you, he would tuck tail and flee into the back room.

What an asshole.

When you finally found the will to visit Scoops Ahoy, you could see Steve hiding in the back through closed, frosted glass window. Very clearly watching you as you waited in line to get to the counter.

"Hi, I'm sorry, but could you tell Steve to come out, please?" You asked the girl, Robin, when you reached the front. You thought you'd had French with her one year, but you couldn't remember exactly.

She sighed and pinched her nose. "Why not?" She said with a shake of her head, then smacked the window so he'd come out. "Can you at least buy something?"

You sighed and handed over two dollars. "Uh, flavor of the month. And you can keep the change."

She sighed and handed you the cone. When Steve didn't emerge, she gave a vague gesture towards the door. "Just go on back, I guess."

The back of Scoops Ahoy smelled saccharine and sweet, like waffle cones and sprinkles. It was plain, with a little table and white boards and boxes of supplies stacked around. You knew you shouldn't have been back there— it was invasive and totally crazy of you to just show up at his workplace.

But then there was Steve, leaning against the window pane separating the back room from the storefront, and your heart did a stupid fluttery thing at the sight of him, even in the dumb uniform.

Steve didn't want to look at you— that much was clear. He stared at the sticky tiled floor and scuffed his feet on the floor. You licked your cone of the flavor of the month and wrinkled your nose. Salted coconut? Disgusting.

"Going radio silent after the wedding was a total dick move," you said finally. "Like, that meant something to me, Steve."

"Look, I screwed up, I—" he sighed, running a hand through his hair. When he finally met your gaze, your heart sank. There wasn't a glimpse of the guy you were with at the wedding there. It was like you were back in his bedroom in Junior year arguing again. "I shouldn't have let it go that far."

Shouldn't have let it get that far? Like he wasn't the one to kiss you first and slide his hand under your skirt.

"Let it?" You challenged. "You initiated everything, Steve. I mean, I thought you had a good time. I thought we both did."

Humiliatingly, your lip began to wobble. There was the awful, sick feeling in your gut of mortification and shame. God, you'd been so easy. You hated him hours before, and you still made it so easy for him to get between your legs.

He sighed and shook his head. "I'm not trying to hurt you," he said. Bullshit. "But it shouldn't have happened. It was a mistake, and we both know that."

"If you thought it was such a terrible mistake, you should have called me and told me," you said, your voice thick with the threat of tears. "And you know what? You were exactly right. It shouldn't have happened. I'm a total idiot."

He didn't make a move to stop you as you left. It was sheer luck that you managed to make it to your car before the tears fell in earnest.

A week later, Starcourt Mall burned in a fire. That night, with smoke pouring into the sky, you watched the light to Steve's window click on through the trees. A faint yellow glow in the distance. You hadn't even realized you were worried about him until you felt like you could finally breathe again. How fucked up is that?

You left for college in August. Tommy and Carol were there to see you off. You promised to call every day so you could swap gossip with Carol, and she made you swear that you wouldn't find some new college girl that you thought was way cooler than her.

It wasn't until finals that you got the call. Carol had gone into labor in the morning. The labor was long, but the baby totally healthy. Samantha Renee Hagan, who, according to Debbie, was kind of wrinkly and red and weird looking, but would hopefully get cuter.

When you met her over winter break, you totally disagreed. Samantha was already beautiful— pink cheeks, big brown eyes, soft fair hair. Sure, all babies kind of had that scrunchy, awkward look for a few months, but she was way cuter by a mile.

You sat in their living room, bouncing her in your arms, marveling at how tiny she was. "You sure you don't want to pick a better godfather for her?" You cooed, smiling as she wrapped her hand around your finger.

Carol just laughed. "I swear, you two are absolutely ridiculous," she said. "Both of you, just…" She shook her head and laughed.

"What is that look?" You asked, shifting Samantha in your arms. She cooed sleepily, and you felt a little bit of pride at the fact that she wasn't screaming and wailing like your little cousins did.

She sighed. "It's not a look, it's just my face."

You rolled your eyes, lips turning into a frown. "No, Carol, it's a look. You want to say something, so say it."

There was a tiny glance between her and Tommy, but she just shook her head. "No, it's… it's just, this back and forth thing you both do is really adorable. You're both just so… serious about it."

God, of course you were serious. Steve was a serious asshole and he seriously hurt you. Again. And sharing a godchild meant an entire lifetime of seeing each other at birthdays and holidays and you didn't know if you could stomach it.

In March, you came home for spring break. A quick trip to visit Tommy and Carol and the baby, and to just get away from the pressure of school for a little while.

And, really, you should have known better. Things were never normal in Hawkins, and they hadn’t been for a long time. There were murders, and then the drug dealer guy you had homeroom with in '84 was the suspect.

Things were fucking weird.

And through it all, you were babysitting. Stuck in Tommy and Carol's little starter home with a three month old who didn't do much other than sleeping and crying for formula. At least she was still young enough that you could get away with watching whatever tapes you wanted.

She dozed in your arms as you watched a VHS tape of St. Elmo's Fire. Rob Lowe was pretty dreamy, but Carol thought Jud Nelson was way hotter. You weren't sure that you could trust her taste if she married a guy who impressed her by burping the alphabet.

After the movie ended, you eased a sleeping Samantha into her crib and turned on the monitor. You laid down on their couch and grabbed a coke from the fridge and watched a late-night game show with a yawn.

Just as you began to doze, the house rattled a bit. You sat up, heart thrumming as the rattle began a full on quake. The baby wailed in the other room, and you tried to keep your footing as you hurried down the hall to grab her.

What were you even supposed to do in an Earthquake? Get in a bathtub? Hide under a table? How the hell were you supposed to know?

So you sat, huddled among all of the bath toys and soap bottles that had come crashing down and held her tightly until the shaking finally stopped.

You ran to the phone once you were sure that it was safe to get out, but the lines were down. A fallen phone line, probably, but it was awfully inconvenient. You wrapped Samantha in a blanket and walked out onto the lawn. Car alarms wailed into the night, but no one knew what was happening.

By morning, you still didn't know, and there was still no sign of Tommy and Carol. All they'd been doing was parking at Lover's Lake to fool around, which, Carol had confessed, was an all-too-rare occurrence with a baby in the house. You just figured they would have rushed home to check on the baby if it were possible.

Maybe there were fallen trees or debris, or something. Maybe they just physically couldn't get home.

One of the neighbors said he tried to drive into town and saw a weird, red chasm in the ground that cut through Olive Street. He said he threw in a brick from his work-truck and it just fell and fell and fell. He didn't even hear it stop.

Another said he saw military trucks coming in, that something bad must've happened, like an attack or something. Who knows? Just another day in Hawkins.

Two days, and you hadn't heard from Carol or Tommy. Their car was missing, and there was a gash through the lake that led into the town.

You put up missing posters with their parents at the Red Cross checkpoint in Hawkins High School. The gym was packed of displaced people, and you kept hoping you'd see a flash of red hair or freckles or just hear Tommy's obnoxious laugh.

Steve saw you first. You felt his eyes before you saw them. He dropped the box of clothes he'd been donating and rushed over, one hand on your arm, one hand on Samantha's back.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" He asked, eyes scanning over your face. "You okay? Why do you have Sammie? Is she hurt? Are you?"

You swallowed, shaking your head. "No, we're fine," you insisted. "We're safe, just… I was babysitting while Tommy and Carol went out, and then the earthquake happened…" Your throat felt tight as you let yourself think the worst for the first time. "No one's seen or heard from them since Thursday. I put up posters, but if they aren't here…"

You both knew what that would mean. You bounced a squirming Samantha. It was noisy and hot in the gym. People were crying, and injured, and everything about it just felt wrong. Like this wasn't really Hawkins anymore. Like you'd woken up in a terrible dream.

"Hey, they brought in the national guard, and FEMA, and shit," he said, giving a weak smile. "I'm sure they're just… a little lost."

He didn't sound very convinced. You didn't feel very convinced either. Samantha cried in your arms, but Steve carefully eased her into his own. "Hey, why don't I take Sammie for a bit? You can go get some rest somewhere. Who's taking her tonight?"

You shrugged and shook your head noncommittally. "Uh, Carol's mom doesn't think it's a good idea for them," you said softly, with a scant glance towards here parents. "Her dad's barely sober… and now with Carol missing…" You cleared your throat, sniffling. "And I know Tommy wouldn't want his baby girl in that house with his asshole dad, you know? So I guess that leaves it to me."

Steve shook his head. "No, that's bullshit," he argued. "Call Debbie and tell her you have to go back to school, and she needs to get her ass back into town."

"No way, Debbie is a total mess," you pushed back. "No. I can handle Samantha. I'm her godmother for a reason. Carol and Tommy trust me to take care of her."

"And me," he insisted. "They trusted both of us. So don't be a goddamn martyr. You go back to school, and I'll take care of Sammie."

You scoffed. "A martyr? Steve, her parents are missing. I'm just trying to do my best to keep her safe and loved and happy. I can re-enroll in the fall after everything in Hawkins is back to normal."

Steve made a face. There was a flash of knowing, of fear there that made your pulse quicken. "I'll stay with you." Before you could argue, he held up a hand. "Don't say anything. I can tell you haven't gotten any real sleep in days. Have you even eaten?"

"No, not really. She's been really freaked out since the earthquakes, she's hardly slept either."

Steve nodded. "Alright. Why don't I handle her, and you can go grab a sandwich from my friend Robin over there?" He pointed across the gym. "Go eat, grab a cot and take a nap. We'll figure everything out when you wake up. Maybe Tommy and Carol will be here by the time you're conscious again."

He gave a weak smile that you couldn't return.

You had the sandwich and sat on a cot, and outside of the window, you watched the sky turn ashen. As you watched the thick gray snow fall from the sky, wondered if you should have taken Steve up on his offer to get out of Hawkins after all.

Thank you for reading!!! This is basically all set up for the rest of the fic, which revolves around them raising Sammie during the events of season 5... and maybe after?