#steveh

When they left to go to Mike’s - Max and Lucas made up for the hundredth time you assumed - you stayed at home but went into Billy’s room this time. There had to be something in here that would tell you what was going on. God - why was he so fucking macho, that he couldn’t keep a diary or something to make things easier?  

‘Dear Diary. Today I ran over Steve Harrington and it was funny. Dear Diary. Today I feel a little bit weird. Dear Diary. I hate my dad and I feel like something is taking over my body and making me do weird things like have a pleasant family meal at Heather’s. Dear Diary. If I don’t come home, I’ll be at this address around this time and this is what’s going to bring me back, just in case anyone is reading this.’ 

Just too much to ask for, wasn’t it?  

There was truly nothing here. You looked in every nook and cranny. There was only one other place that you could think of and that was his car, which was not outside. Actually, it had been a while since you had seen it. You walked out to the living room and looked out the front window towards the driveway - empty.  

The pool. It was the only place that he could be. His schedule said that he was working today but he could have called off, could have been avoiding the place. If some dark force was possessing a human being, why would they take them to work? It was ludicrous. But it was your only lead, so you left the Hargrove house and started to jog against the heat towards the swimming pool. 

The first thing you saw was a head of long red hair. Max was holding up binoculars while watching Billy. You followed her line of sight to see a very strange image of Billy, sitting on the highchair, a shirt on and a towel over his legs. Billy never wore a shirt if he could help it. Even as a kid, he’d been the first to take it off and go running around while his mother tried to catch him and get it back on him. Further evidence that this was NOT your Billy. 

You walked up behind Max and her little teenage friends. It was only too easy to eavesdrop - they never once looked behind them. 

“The Mind-Flayer likes to hide,” The one named Will was saying. “He only used me when he needed me. It’s like - you’re dormant. And then, when he needs you, you’re activated.” 

“Okay, so we just wait until he gets activated -” Max started. 

“No. What if he hurts someone?” Mike argued. 

“Or kills someone?” Will added in.  

“We can’t take that chance. We need to find out if he’s the host,” Mike said, and got up. He turned around, only for his eyes to meet with yours. That made all of them turn around. 

“He is,” you said, staring past them at Billy still. “I can guarantee it at this point. When I looked into his eyes at Heather’s yesterday, that was not my cousin looking back at me. And I know him better than anyone. I know the way that he looks. The way that he talks. Even when he’s spewing pure bullshit and that is not Billy.”  

“I have an idea on how to prove it - boys only though. Trust me.” 

“Seriously?” Max said, as Lucas and Will followed Mike towards the pool area, into the locker room. “What are you doing here?” 

Her tone wasn’t unkind. It was just curious. “I was hoping to look through his car to get a hint as to what’s going on with him, though it seems pretty unlikely I’d find something if it’s this ... Mind-Flayer asshole.” 

“And you’re ... sure” Max asks.  

“Max - I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” 

-- 

Eleven left you to go to the storage shed, and you see Mike follow her in. “Did they break up or something?” You asked, trying to distract yourself from all of this chaos. Although you had heard about the monsters here in Hawkins, you hadn’t expected to run into any yourself. It was Summer. This was supposed to be relaxing. This was supposed to be fun. And now you were going to have to be a badass and save your cousin from a monster that was possessing his body to do ... who knows what. Spy? Kill people? Possess others? It didn’t matter.  

“Yeah, she dumped his ass,” Max said proudly, using binoculars to look over at Billy. She was watching him carefully.  

“Huh - good for her,” You nodded. You remembered what relationships felt like at that age. All important, all-encompassing, the center of your world. And now, being older, and looking back, it all felt so juvenile, so silly. Those two were going to work things out. You had a feeling in your stomach about it. With all of the secrets that this group had, they wouldn’t be wandering that far away from each other. 

Though that reminded you of Steve. He’d fought the monsters before. He had helped before. With a bat that had nails through it, Max had said. Should you maybe be talking to him - bringing him into the loop? But then the idea of him getting hurt hit you like a boxing glove in the face, and you shook that idea right off. This had to do with Billy, therefore, it was way too personal to bring anyone else in.  

“Where are you guys?” Max asked into the walkie talkie, snapping you out of your reverie.  

“I’m coming, just hold on a second,” Mike said in response. The redhead sighed and brought the binoculars back up to her eyes, focusing on Billy. You heard her mutter something along the lines of hoping that we were wrong. Your hope was right there with hers. 

Everyone stuck around until night. Well, you went off for a little bit and bought some burgers and brought them back so that everyone would all have the strength for what you were going to do tonight and introduced yourself a bit more properly to the gang. You took a near immediate liking to Will, maybe because he was the only one that looked you in the eye when he thanked you for the food that you bought him. He seemed like a sweet kid, though forlorn. 

The sun went down. The pool closed. Everyone came out, smelling faintly of chlorine despite the showers that they had taken afterwards, going home to watch television over a TV dinner or something like that. Not you six, though. Mike had come up with a pretty good plan. And when you saw Billy head into the men’s showers, it was time to implement it. 

This had already become one of the hardest things that you had ever done, but you held strong. This was to get Billy back. The boys start making clanging noises, playing with the lockers. “Pool’s closed!” Billy’s voice carried through the nearly empty locker room. The noises kept up. “Hey!” His locker slammed, nearly making you jump in your hiding place. “You hear me?” 

He went to the door and tried to push it open, but it was padlocked from the outside. And a three - two - one - the lights all went out, just as planned. 

“Billy,” Mike sang, in a voice that sounded much more like a horror movie villain than a teenage boy. 

“Who’s there?” 

The game of cat and mouse began, with the walkie talkie beckoning Billy into the sauna. He was approaching it, anger being a stronger emotion than any sort of caution. You could almost believe it was your cousin just from that reaction. Almost. But the pure rage when El threw Billy against the wall of the sauna, and you helped Mike and Lucas to chain and lock the door closed with him in it - that was more than Billy was usually capable of. That was otherworldly. Monstrous. 

Billy was banging at the door, while the rest of you, admittedly almost cowardly, hung behind Eleven, the girl with powers who was our best bet out of this mess. But it was Max who Billy’s eyes landed on. It was her name that he spoke softly. Protectively, you reached for your little cousin, but she didn’t seem to need you. She’s the one who held Billy’s gaze and spoke to Will - “Do it.” 

Once the heat was cranked up, Billy started to freak out in a way you hadn’t seen since his mother had died. “MAX! Y/N! LET ME OUT OF HERE.” He was pacing, though his eyes were stuck on the small window that looked out at us. In a calmer tone, he asked again to be let out, as if it was his manners that was keeping us from doing so. His breath was getting heavier as the heat seemed to be getting to him. More rapid. He was sweating, he was spitting, and it was hard to watch but you forced yourself to.  

“We’re at twenty-two,” Will said, checking the temperature gauge. 

“It’s not my fault,” Billy was sobbing, which surprised you. And Max - since she went walking towards the window and you went with her, since you were the closest to him. 

“It’s not my fault, y/n,” Billy was saying. “I promise you, it’s not my fault.” 

“What’s not your fault, Billy?” Max asked, speaking when you couldn’t bring yourself to. 

“I’ve done things, Max. Really ... bad things. I didn’t mean to. He made me do it.”  

“Who made you do it?” You asked, your voice dry, trembling. 

“I don’t know, it’s like a shadow. Like a giant shadow. Please....” 

“What did he make you do?” You asked, a little more forcefully this time.  

“It’s not my fault, okay? Please believe me, I tried to stop him, okay? I did.” 

Max was crying beside me, and you put my arm around her, breathing heavily myself but not letting any tears flow. You felt so much pain on behalf of my cousin right now, but you had to stick to the mission. Billy was begging for his life. You had to remind myself that the body could go through a lot - he could handle the heat - he just had to. 

“We believe you,” Max spoke for the both of you. And you nodded, because you did believe him. Whatever Billy had done, it wasn’t Billy. He’d been making progress, he’d been laughing again, he’d been standing up for himself little by little against his father. He was slowly starting to come around to the idea of Lucas, even if he didn’t act like it, but he had told you in secret. Max was happy, he had noticed that. There was only room in the Hargrove home for two miserable bastards and it might as well be the men.  

“I feel him,” Will whispered, garnering your attention. You swallowed, anger starting to fill you.  

“We’ll figure it out together, okay,” Max said, and you tightened your grip on her shoulder, trying to keep her from stepping forward.  

“He’s activated,” Will said, quietly.  

Anger. It felt just as large as the shadow of the Mindflayer. How dare this thing fuck with your family. How dare it hurt Billy like this, when he was getting better? Making Max cry like this too. Everything it did to Will last year? 

“I need you to trust me. Please,” Max was saying to Billy, just as Mike told us to get away from the door. “What?” She asked to the teenage boy. Mike yelled it this time, and you put your arms around Max, pulling her back away from the door, just as Billy started to smash it. To call you names. To threaten you in ways that he never had before - not even while he was angry. When he said that he was going to gut you both - he looked serious, and you believed him. Something flew through the air, hitting Billy square in the face, knocking him back. The lights started flickering and you kept bringing Max away, even though she was trying to fight you on it. There was a large roar from the Sauna and you knew that you were proven right when Max seemed to stop fighting at the noise. She knew now. Billy wasn’t in there.  

“He can’t get out, can he?” Max asked, a touch of fear in her voice. 

“No way. No. Way.” Lucas said, perhaps a little too confidently. Only for Billy to try to prove him wrong by slamming himself up against the door. The chain broke, making a clawing feeling inside of your chest, a fear that you had never felt before. He came tumbling out, and without even thinking, you moved in front of the kids. He was going to have to go through you to get to them. 

A dumbbell flew through the air to your surprise. Watching Eleven use her powers was ... breath-taking. It pinned Billy to the wall, and he was fighting against it - hard. Eleven was straining while all of you were backing up little by little, you still standing in between them and Billy as best as you could.  

Until things go very wrong. 

The dumbbell flies towards Eleven, but it was only a distraction, because it’s his arm that shoots out and grabs her, pulling her hair back. You start to step forward, but Mike had beaten you to it, running with a metal rod before he could take Eleven too far - and hit him over the head with it. 

“Go to Hell, you piece of shit,” Mike said. He went to raise it again, but Billy caught it, turning his attention towards the barely-a-teenage boy. Before you could even blink, he was somehow raised up, Eleven’s nose bleeding as she held him with her powers and shot him through the wall to the soaking wet grass outside. 

“I don’t get how you spend your days here,” Steve said, spinning the cap around his index finger as you leaned against the counter, eating your ice cream. You were going to have to slow down on it eventually. There was only so much that you could eat before it started to show. “Once I find a different job, I’m never stepping foot back in this mall-”

“Mostly because you already tried asking out every girl who works here,” Robin chimed in from the back. “And embarrassed yourself monumentally.”

“Not the point,” Steve said, and you noticed that he wasn’t denying it. Actually, the pink tinge on his cheeks gave away that it was the total truth. You tried to hide your laugh. You really did. “I’d still prefer to go to the Hawk Theater rather than this one. Have you seen the size of the sodas? Diabetes in a cup.”

“I haven’t been to either, actually,” You admitted. “Where’s the Hawk theater?”

“It’s hard to miss,” Robin said, coming out, looking bored as usual. “In lovely downtown Hawkins.” She eyed you for a minute though, looking you up and down. “Do you really just spend all your time here and at the pool?”

“You were at the pool?” Steve asked, raising an eyebrow. “Wait - both of you were at the pool?”

“I’ve only been back a couple of times. The last time I went, one of the moms was putting on so much hairspray, I couldn’t get the smell out of my bathing suit. Like, why are you doing your hair if you’re just going to get in the water? And if you’re not going in the water, why go to the pool? I don’t get it,” You shrugged, shaking your head.

“You know why they go to the pool. Billy,” She gagged.

“Yeah,” You said, figuring that to be the truth, unfortunately. It happened in California too. He spent his summers lifeguarding on the beach, and he had a lot of admirers there too, despite being underaged. “If I ever, EVER, become one of those ladies, I want you to find me and smack it out of me, okay Robin?”

“Yes ma’am,” Robin gave you a salute. Steve, on the other hand, was looking disgusted by Billy’s name coming up in conversation, even if you made sure that it breezed past him. It wasn’t a topic that you wanted to get stuck on. You’d just end up telling him about your relationship to his enemy and everything would come crashing down. The bit of fun that you were having would unfortunately end. Luckily, his mind seemed to drift past it, coming across something else.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” Steve asked, resting his elbows on top of the counter, his hat looking like it wanted to fall off of his head onto the floor. You had to think about it. It was just another weekday. A Wednesday.

“I was going to call my parents and tell them all about the excitement in Hawkins,” You said, somewhat sarcastically with a shrug. “Other than that, nada.” Billy was working, and Max hadn’t expressed that she wanted to do something with you. It was a rare occasion when that happened, since she was out there with Lucas and Elle and the rest of their little crew. But when it did happen, you’d cancel anything. Maybe even on Steve.

“I have tomorrow off, I can show you around,” Steve suggested. Robin rolled her eyes, and went into the back, probably to get the ‘you suck’ board. “I got my car fixed. We can go to the theater, maybe drive around. Show you that there’s more to this town than the mall.”

You smirked to yourself as Robin came out wih the board, ready to make a mark under her favorite column. “Sorry Robin,” You told her. “Looks like you’re going to have to put a tally on the other side.”

Steve looked over his shoulder at Robin, confusion covering his puppy dog face. It only took him a minute to realize that it meant that you were saying yes to him showing you around. “Cool, yeah,” He said, running his fingers through his hair, playing it off like he thought you would say yes the entire time. The hat finally fell onto the ground, and he bent down low to pick it up, putting it back on his head haphazardly. “I can come pick you up?”

Your mind shut down that idea quickly. If Steve came before Billy left, there was going to be a scene. He already didn’t like that you spent time with King Steve. He tried to talk you out of it when he found out that the mall was where you spent your days. But shit, if he knew that you two were going to be hanging out with each other one on one, he was going to have something to say about it, and he was going to say it to Steve with his fists. Or even if Neil saw and asked whose car it was that picked you up? Trouble. So much trouble.

“Actually, now that I think about it, I meant to go to the library and return some books,” You said, quickly. “I can meet you there, and then we can head out? I was thinking the early afternoon, but if you have a time that works better for you-”

“No, that’s cool,” Steve said. “I haven’t been there for ages, so you can start the tour with me there,” He grinned.

“You’ve actually been inside the library? Surprising,” Robin commented, dryly. She made a tally mark under ‘You Rule’ though she didn’t look happy about doing it.

--

Another scorching day in Hawkins. Billy dropped you off at the library on his way to work and you were oh so grateful for the air conditioning. You had made an account here mainly for the fact that it had great air conditioning. And it was a quiet place where you could get some peace after the madness of being around the Hargroves. You did actually have books to return, so you didn’t completely lie to Steve. You finished one of them yesterday while you waited for Max to get home. She was in a mood today, her temper flaring up, face nearly as red as her hair.

“What did the jerk do this time?” You had asked, and she went into the most recent argument that she had with Lucas. This was far from their first break up this summer. It was also unlikely to be her last. After she got all that out, she asked you about your day - and you spilled it all too. You were going to be getting a tour of the one and only Hawkins, Indiana by King Steve Harrington himself.

“I knew you thought he was cute,” Max had teased.

“Hey, give yourself a year and you’ll see it too,” You returned.

She actually woke up with you that morning and helped you to pick out something to wear. You didn’t want to seem like you were trying too hard. But you also didn’t want to turn up looking like slop either. You managed to find something in between with a pair of shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, and of course you slathered on the sunscreen, just in case he wanted to take you somewhere outside. You’ve heard rumors of this Lover’s Lake.

You were already in too deep, you might as well go swimming.

You waited for him at a table near the doors, picking up a magazine at random and flipping through it. You were reading an article about which kind of perm might be right for you, when his scent caught your attention before he did. Sandalwood. That’s what it was. He didn’t take the seat next to you but he did lean over the table, hands pressed down on it. That was the first part of him that you saw that day. His hands. The tendons on the back of them jutted through the skin, creating all sorts of lines that it would have been nice to run your fingers over. And then you noticed the watch, definitely an expensive one by the looks of it. He hadn’t been wearing it at work so it appeared like he was dressing up for you too a bit. That was real cute. “You’re thinking about a perm?” He asked, his head tilted, reading the name of the article that you were looking at.

“I don’t think so. I heard they smell rancid,” You said, closing it up and pushing it aside. “Have you ever thought about getting one?”

“And damage all of this?” He asked, picking up one of his hands and running it through his hair. “No way.” You shared a laugh together at that. He was really leaning into the Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington persona, but it was a good look for him. It looked amazing today, tousled enough to look like it was natural but you knew how much effort it really took to make a hairstyle look effortless.

“No, you’re right, leave it as is. The world needs it,” You joked, getting onto your feet, and pulling your bag back over your shoulder. “So this is the library. Over here is the magazine section. And then you’ve got fiction over there to the left - and non fiction to the right,” You said with a grin, since he did say that the tour should start there. “Is there anywhere else you want to look? The bathrooms are pretty nice but the decor isn’t anything to write home about.”

He cracked up at you. He didn’t seem to be tensing in pain anymore which was a sight for sore eyes. He recovered really well. Bounced back amazingly. That lessened up your guilt little by little. “I already got us some tickets to the matinee, hope that’s alright,” He said, that grin on full display. He probably practiced it in the mirror because it was perfect. The right amount of teeth. “They’re showing Splash again, with the like .. mermaid chick.”

“Perfect, I missed it in theaters last year,” You said, stepping out from the seat, away from the table. As if by instinct, Steve was right there to push your chair back in, tuck it away properly. It was a cute gesture. More considerate than you had been expecting. He stayed right beside you as you walked out of the library together, not pushing any boundaries or entering your personal bubble. It made you wonder what exactly this was. A friendly show the summer girl around town? Or was it more of a date? Against your better judgment, you hoped that it was the latter. A summer romance might just be the thing that you needed. Even if that came with the challenge of it only lasting for a summer.

Steve’s car was parked in front of the library, but he didn’t head in that direction. Still, you ended up giving it a look as you passed on by. The windows were fixed, and the dent that Billy’s car had made was buffed out. It must have cost a lot to get it back in this condition. “I thought we’d walk,” Steve explained, scratching the back of his neck. As he did so, the blue button up shirt that he was wearing lifted up ever so slightly, revealing a sliver of flesh from the hem to the top of his blue jeans. The main takeaway here is that he really is tanned all over. His skin held that healthy glow. The second was that there was definitely a hint of a treasure trail under his belly button. The shirt fell back down and you really tried to make it seem like you hadn’t been looking. “- downtown is pretty small so...”

“Good idea,” You smiled at him, moving closer to him to allow an older woman to pass by. His hands instantly went to your shoulders, holding you steady until you moved back into your earlier position. “Are there any cool places outside of downtown?”

“I wouldn’t say cool...” Steve thought, his lips pursing together. “Lover’s Lake is a good spot...”

It felt like something right out of a movie. They all had those, right? A place overlooking the water or the city where teenagers go in their cars and make out in the backseat. That’s what your brain is focusing on now. That’s what you couldn’t get out of there.

“There’s a lot of woods around, but I uhh - I wouldn’t recommend camping,” He continued. “-cougars and stuff,” He said, quickly. It was a good cover. You knew exactly what he was actually talking about - the demogorgon, the Upside Down. Eleven had closed it all though. Or at least, that’s what Max had told you when she caught you up on everything that had happened. You were her one confidante outside of the group that had been originally involved. But Max wasn’t supposed to tell anyone, so you were keeping it on the downlow too.

“Then it’s a good thing I’m not super into camping,” You told him, watching as relief flitted by his face. “But if there’s a lake, I’d like to see it. I miss the water. I lived by the beach for most of my life so it feels weird only having the pool as an option.”

“Do you go to the pool often?” Steve asked, trying to keep his cool. Was that a touch of jealousy that you saw? Or was he just being protective because of your cousin’s reputation? Either way, it did make you feel a little special.

“Only a couple of times, just to lounge out and read, people watch,” You explained. “Gets lonely though, except for that one time that I saw Robin there. The mall is a lot better.”

That seemed to placate him, for now. The Hawk Theater wasn’t that far from the library at all. Just a block down and over a little bit. The marquee stood out, creating a shady space to stand under, and there was a bored looking man in the booth. He glowered at Steve as he walked up with you and showed that he already had tickets. You noted the interaction, sheepish Steve and the angry man, and raised your eyebrow at him once you were in the cool and carpeted interior. “Is there a story there?” You questioned.

“A bit,” Steve admitted. “I don’t really want to talk about it. I was - kind of a dick a couple of years ago,” He admitted, full on. Now that was another surprise. People didn’t usually know that about themselves, let alone tell other people about it. Or take responsibility for it.

“Wow," You said, stopping close to him as you stood in line to get popcorn and a drink. He already had his wallet out, putting his hand out to stop you from grabbing yours, his palm touching the back of your hand. He shook his head.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s on me. I’m the one who asked you,” He said, a dazzling smile then appearing on his face. You returned it, and decided to let your wallet stay in your bag for the time being, since he was being so nice about it. The smile did drop off of his face though as you both took another step closer to the counter, one less person in line. “It uh - took a while to do some of that ... self-actualization stuff. That’s what my friend Dustin calls it, anyway.”

You’ve heard a lot about Dustin from Max. It sounded like he used to have a little crush on her, before she started to date Lucas, only she hadn’t realized it. It was cute watching these kids navigate through feelings and stuff. You were just happy that Max had some really good friends in those boys, and in El.

“Sounds like a smart kid,” You commented. The conversation was interrupted by the ordering of snacks, Steve ordering quite a few. And just one large drink, which he ordered more shyly than the other things.

“I can never finish a whole one, so-”

“Totally fine with me,” You assured him. He paid, being the gentleman that he was. The cash looked brand new, like it had just come from the bank. Crisp bills. A sure sign of being well off if you had ever seen one. All your own was crumpled up inside of your bag or creased from the fold of your wallet. But not Steve’s. It reminded you of how fast his car was fixed up, and how it looked like it had never been damaged at all. He came from wealth. The people you knew back in Cali who were like that were often pretentious, snobby, rude. But Steve didn’t seem like any of these things. You were liking Indiana more and more. Once you were in the theater and found the prime seats, the conversation resumed. “I can’t say that I know you too well but - you seem like you’re doing great, Steve.”

There was a long pause between your words and his next ones. You wondered if you had said the wrong thing. But then out came a soft, “Thank you.” You looked at him and smiled just as the lights dimmed down and the previews began.

There was something about being in this older theater that made the movie more enjoyable. The old style animation commercials advertising popcorn and drinks that could be bought from concession. Local commercials, like for the Fourth of July festival, Bradley’s Big Buy, Enzo’s Restaurant. A few were thrown in for upcoming movies but it was mostly staying local. The seats were comfortable, having been stuffed and sewn and restuffed and patched over the years rather than feeling like they came right out of a factory.

And the movie - the movie was glorious. Daryl Hannah was beautiful, Tom Hanks was a cutie-pie. Your shoulders were touching Steve’s the entire movie, both of you subconsciously leaning in towards one another. There was a point, when the mermaid character was biting into a lobster, where you held up one of the candies that you chose, and Steve ate it right out of your hand, his lips brushing against your fingertips. That’s never happened before. That feeling of intimacy.

After the movie, the two of you stuck close. Walking beside one another, the back of your hands brushing against each other. This felt like more than a tour of the town now. This was beginning to feel like a ... well, a date. God, you really were falling for your summer-time crush weren’t you? Getting all nervous and sweaty palmed and averted gazes and fluttery eyelashes.

“So what area of town are you staying in?” Steve asked casually, a question that had your heart pounding for another reason. If you lied, you could be caught out easily, especially if he offered to drive you home afterwards, which was what this was leading to. “Maybe I know your cousin. It’s a small town.”

Oh, he knew your cousin alright. Loathed one. Saved the other. “Oh, maybe,” You said, shrugging casually. “But I see them everyday, not you. I want to know more about you.” It wasn’t a lie, actually, you did.

“Really?” He said, looking at you with surprise in his eyes. He then coughed a little into his hand, like he was trying to regain himself. “I mean, yeah, sure, what do you want to know?”

“Hmm... oh, okay. If you had to rename Cool Whip, what would you call it?”

“What?” Steve asked, looking at you with an expression of pure incredulousness. “Cool whip?”

“Yup, Cool Whip,” You grinned. “If you think about it, they probably didn’t settle on the name right away. The marketing team had to come up with different names, and that’s the one that they decided on. But what do you think some of the other names were?”

You weren’t sure if Steve was actually going to play along with this game. He walked with you back to his car, but before he unlocked the doors, he stopped, one hand on his hip, and the other on the roof of the vehicle. “Creamy Dream?”

That surprised you. That surprised you enough that you let out an embarrassing bark of laughter, and covered your mouth. He seemed to realize what he said and a light blush flitted across his tan cheeks. He started to laugh along with you, even as he finally opened the doors and let you inside of his car.

“That’s my new favorite,” You say, still laughing as you put on your seatbelt. “Puffin lovin,” You suggest, and he cracks up again. He gets the car onto the road and we keep on spouting ideas, laughing hard. You don’t even know where you’re headed. You don’t really care.

“Whippy-whips.”

“Whiffy Puff.”

“Sweet dreams.”

“Puffy cow?”

“You came up with the best one already, I'll never forget creamy dream.”

“Never going to live that one down, am I?” Steve asks, and I notice that the houses, the buildings, are growing fewer and fewer and the trees are growing thicker.

“Never,” I smile. “I’m just tempted to tell Robin,” You tease, and Steve groans.

“Please don’t, she teases me like crazy anyway.”

“Okay, okay, I won’t tell for now, just because .. this is going really well,” You admit, your body turned in his direction, giving him my complete attention. Although this area is darker than the streets, due to there not being nearly as many streetlights, you can still see his handsome visage. The straight arch of his nose, the soft jaw, the hair perfectly in place. “So Steve, which part of the tour is this?”

“Thought I’d show you the lake,” He offered.

“This ... Lover’s Lake?” You asked, teasingly. “Are you sure you’re not getting a little ahead of yourself there?”

Steve instantly turned a color of red that you had only seen on a tomato. Itt was almost the exact shade actually. It was impressive. “I wouldn’t  - I mean, if you want to but - that’s not what I was .. not expecting?” He stumbled, his mouth going faster than his brain. Was this really the King Steve that my cousin used to complain about all the time? He seemed a lot more humble, a lot more .. down to earth, not nearly as cocky as he had been made to seem.

“I’m just messing with you,” You chuckled. I knew Max did the same thing to him all the time, it was now officially a family trait. “I’d like to see the lake, it sounds nice.”

He looked at you with disbelief and then chuckled, shaking his head. “You scared me for a minute there,” He admitted. “Thought you thought I was going to try to force you into something. I would never do that by the way. Never’?

“No, I didn’t think you would, I swear,” You said, feeling the need to do a little damage control. “Really, you don’t strike me as that kind of guy.”

“Good, that’s good,” He said with a nod, his perfect hair bobbing in his face. It’s amusing to watch. You lean back in my seat as we pull up real close to the water. We must be off the road by this point. But wow.

Wow.

The way that the sun was just beginning to set and the sky was turning from a blue to a peachy color, just starting, was magnificent to behold. You had seen a lot of beach sunsets in California but something like this was just - unreal. With all of the trees becoming mere silhouettes rather than detailed. You were just staring with awe through the windshield.

You didn’t even notice that Steve was staring at you, you were too busy being absolutely amazed. “Do you wanna step out?” He asked, his entire face soft when you turned to look at it. Almost like a .. a puppy looking at their favorite person. “No .. roof in the way,” He pointed out, and then winced at himself. You chuckled because God, if he wasn’t the most adorable dork in the world, you’d eat your own hair.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” You said, undoing your seatbelt and stepping out of the car, onto the pebbled beach which turned into water. You crouched down and picked up one of the rocks. It was a light gray color that many might have thought of as just plain, smooth, round, but you picked it up regardless. You rubbed your finger across the warmth. It had just been soaking up the sun all day. “Do you ever skip rocks here?” You asked.

“I used to when I was a kid. Used to come here every day in the summer,” Steve said, stepping up beside you. He was looking down at the rocks too, before finding one that was smooth and flat. Perfect for something like this. “Dunno if I still have the skills though.”

“Go on then,” You said, jutting out your chin to the water. “I wanna see what you got. I promise, if you’re awful, I won’t tell Robin and give her something else to tease you about,” You joked playfully. He rolled his eyes and gave you a little nudge before turning his body to the side, and whipping his hand out, letting the rock fly. It skipped across the water twice before sinking under the ripples of its own making.

“Yup, I still got it,” He said, picking up another stone, and tossed it like it was a coin, grabbing it again. You chuckled and then tried yours, though it only skipped the one time, before disappearing.

“Never had it. That’s the best one that I’ve ever done,” You said with a grin, still proud of yourself even if it only did the one.

“Come on, I’ll show you,” He said. For a minute there, you  thought this was going to be one of those corny moments that you see all of the time. Where the guy tries to teach the girl how to play pool but pressing himself up against her, to try to ‘hold’ the pool cue properly. But it wasn’t like that at all. He actually stood across from you, showing you how to hold the stone, lightly touching my hands and your hands only. Then he mimed throwing a stone, to demonstrate the way that the arm should move as you whip it. “Try it now,” He said, finding another stone, handing it to you.

“Okay, let’s see how good a teacher you are,” You chuckled. You  moved in the way that he showed you, and to your surprise, it skipped once - twice - thrice - and then dropped below the surface of the water. “Wow. A better teacher than a doer,” You said, looking at him, your face filled up with glee. “Three - that’s a record I don’t think I’ll ever break.”

“That was great,” He said, his own grin as he looked out at the water and then back at you. In the natural light, he really did look ... spectacular. And the way that he was looking at you too. It was just so .. soft. There was no leering and no ogling, he kept his eyes on your face and looked at you as if you could be ...

Salvation was the only word that came to mind. He noticed that you had caught him looking at you and looked embarrassed for a second but then, didn’t look away. “Steve...” You heard your voice say, without even knowing what you were going to follow it up with. Maybe you didn't even have to follow it up at all. He stepped in a little closer so he was still a respectful foot and a half away from you but it still felt really close.

“Are you really only staying for the summer?” He asked. He looked almost forlorn when he asked it. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed, waiting for the answer that he knew wouldn’t come. You could only nod, because it was the truth. You both had to stay in the reality of this Summer, or ... who  knows what could possibly happen?"Just my luck. Coolest, and most beautiful girl in Hawkins and she’s leaving at the end of the season.”

You did have to smile at the compliments. They were really nice to hear from someone, and the way that he was looking at you. This still wasn’t King Steve. He seemed to be long gone. This was someone new, that you haven’t heard about from Billy. This was more of the version that Max saw, but not nearly as annoying. Probably because he wasn’t trying to tell you what to do in the case of a giant monster attacking. And even if he did, you would probably listen to him since he has way more experience with that kind of thing in Hawkins than you do. “Yeah, it does sound like shitty luck,” you admitted. “But ... if you think about it, the summer can feel pretty long sometimes. And we still have another two months of it...”

“A lot can happen in two months,” He figured out. You moved in a little closer to him, nodding.

“And there’s these things called phones, if we want to worry about the after...”

That seemed to be all of the permission, the affirming that he needed before he crashed his lips onto yours for the first time. And as odd as it was, he just tasted like the summer. Like sunscreen and fireworks on the Fourth of July, and excitement on the beach and days where you go to the mall just to soak up the air conditioning. His hands still didn’t wander to anywhere inappropriate. They rested themselves at the bottom of your ribcage, his fingers fitting into the grooves so well. You had your hands on his chest now, moving one up to hold onto his chin, to show that you liked this. That you wanted this. Turns out neither of you had intended for anything cliche to happen at Lovers Lake, but here you were.

There wasn’t any tongue in these first kisses, no pushing further than what felt natural for the time. And it broke apart smoothly, softly, your eyes looking into his that were the exact color of dark honey. “So I can call you in September?” Steve asked, picking up where the conversation had left off.

“September, October - all of the Bers,” You said with a smile.

“My dad’s going to kill me over the phone bill,” Steve cracked a grin.

“So make sure you keep doing an amazing job at Scoops so you can pay for it,” You say, teasingly. “I can call you sometimes. Switch it up. I don’t think my dad would mind.”

“Perfect,” He said, and laid a kiss on your forehead. And it did feel that way. As long as you were out together, everything felt perfect, with the still lake and the faint smell of sunscreen and the feeling of his strong hands always right behind you - not on you, but lingering - when he walked with you back to the car, ready to catch you in case you slipped on any of the rocks.

You didn’t let him take you home. He wanted to, and he had this little look of confusion on his face when you asked him to drop you off at the corner a couple of blocks away.

“I don’t want my aunt and uncle asking questions about why I’m letting some random boy drop me off after sunset,” You explained, though it was much more about my cousin. He just didn’t need to know that ... yet.    

“I want to meet them though,” Steve said, hesitantly pulling over to the curb at the corner. “You know, walk you up to the door. Maybe give you a kiss goodnight?”

He looked so cute, so hopeful when he said all of this, it made your heart beat quicker and your cheeks start to feel tight from smiling. “Maybe next time. I have to keep some mystery alive,” You say, trying to play it off as something cool. Like you weren’t concerned about Billy seeing Steve coming up to the house and come walking out with a tire iron or something similar. Or about Steve recognizing the house as Billy’s for some reason. Or more than likely, Max’s, probably dropping her off the same way that he was with you right now.

“Okay - I’ll remember you said that,” Steve said, his voice so warm. Giving in without pushing back.

You undid your seatbelt, let it roll back into the holder. You turned my body towards Steve, and saw that he was already turned towards you, giving you all of his attention. There was a faint smile on his lips, like maybe he was trying not to look too eager. “You can give me a kiss goodnight right here, if you wanted to...” You said, softly.

“Would that be okay?” He asked, and you nodded. Now that the first kiss was out of the way, you were able to relax more into the second one. You both moved in at the same time, your arms going over his shoulders, elbows resting there, pulling him in more. His went under your arms, around your back, warm, large. And your lips met in the middle, hot breath coming from nostrils, hair tickling your arms - and though he was there to support you, to keep you upright, it felt like you could be falling. Melting.

It broke off when a car drove around the corner, and your senses just went haywire, pulling away to see who it was. Not Billy. Just some station wagon going down the street. You sighed in relief and met Steve’s eyes, which looked quizzically at you. “Sorry, startled me,” You said with a little laugh. “I’ll come into the mall and see you again soon.”

“Wait,” Steve said, the backs of his fingers brushing against your arm. “Could I at least get your phone number? Just in case you .. don’t make it in?”

You smiled, took his hand from your arm and gave it a light squeeze. You started to open the car door with your other hand. “If it’s fate, you’ll guess it,” You said with a wink and got out. You closed the door behind you and started to walk down the street.

Of course it wasn’t that easy. Steve, being the sweetheart that he was, drove alongside you at a really slow pace, eyes focused more out of the passenger door window than at the road ahead. “Come on, at least let me make sure that you get to your door safely,” He said, leaning out of his seat towards you. “I’ll worry all night if I don’t.”

“Oh Steve,” You sighed. “You’re too cute for words, you know that? But my uncle is going to be even more suspicious if I’m walking down the street with a car tailing me. I’ll be fine, I can see the house from here."

“You’re absolutely sure?” Steve asked. He still had that concerned look on his face as he spoke through the window.

“Yes,” You laughed. “What do you think is going to happen?”

You regretted asking that though, as you saw his face fall. You realized he must be thinking about Barb. About what happened to Will. The dangers. But you weren’t supposed to know that stuff.

“Okay,” He finally gave in. “Will you at least come out to the mall tomorrow?”

You laughed lightly again, this time not regretting what you were about to say.

But it also wasn’t as if Billy was the kind of guy who would let loose his feelings if he was pestered to. So you just watched him from afar, and hoped for the best. There was nothing else for it.

You grabbed a Popsicle and sat outside on the front porch, trying to catch any of the breeze that was supposed to be out here, according to the weatherman. But there was no breeze - just clouds starting to form, threatening a storm. You sighed and went over my options for the day - bus to the mall, bus to the library… all involving buses because Billy was MIA. There was only a small oil patch on the ground where his Camaro usually was. You licked the cherry Popsicle and stared at it, thinking about the night that we got into that accident. And how that really showed Billy’s character. That he just took off after that. Left you there because you wanted to help. Maybe you didn’t know your cousin as well as you thought that you did.

“Do you know where Billy is?” Max’s voice hit you. You looked up to see her and Eleven starting to walk up towards the house. Their expressions were extremely serious. Much more serious than someone their ages should be.

“No idea, he was gone before I was awake,” You said, looking between the two. “I don’t even know if he came home at all last night.”

Now the two girls looks at each other.

A moment later, after filling you in about what they had done last night, Eleven with her astral projection or whatever it’s called, you were in Billy’s room with them, keeping a look-out though everyone was at work. “Why do I get the feeling we’re going to find all kinds of wrong in here?” Max asked.

“Just don’t touch any tissues, they’re not used for sneezing,” You advised, wishing you had thought to put on some dish washing gloves. But you were too curious not to be in here. Too concerned not to.

Billy’s room was messier than it usually was - not that he kept it clean exactly but this was the room of someone that had been distracted. Dirty clothes spilling out of his laundry basket and onto the ground; his radio still on and playing metal music; his ashtray overflowing and so he started using a plate that still had sandwich crumbs on it. You remembered making him that sandwich. That was days ago.

Max went to his night table, opening it up and peering inside. “Ugh, gag me with a spoon,” She said, closing it back up quickly. You didn’t have to ask what was in there. Teenage boys. Disgusting.

You don’t find anything in the bedroom, other than the signs that he hadn’t been cleaning, so you three went into the bathroom. It had changed since you had taken a shower yesterday afternoon. The bathtub was filled with water, and empty plastic bags were swimming on the surface. Bags of ice from the corner store. The ones used to fill coolers and the like.

“Max?” El asks. Your redhead cousin stepped forward, grabbing one of the empty plastic bags.

“Ice,” She said, reading the bag. “It’s just ice. It’s probably for his muscles or something. He works out like a maniac, right y/n?”

“He does,” You had to agree with that, but the fact that he would just leave the mess in there despite knowing that Neil would get on his case about it … that was a bad sign. And then your eyes caught on another one. Blood. You definitely hadn’t noticed that today. El noticed too. Her breath was trembling, and you lightly put your arm around her, trying to reassure her that everything was going to be okay, that there was an explanation for this, a reasonable one, there had to be. But she pulls from you and opens up the cupboard beneath the sink. She pulls out the garbage bucket that was in there. The one that you cleaned a few days ago, emptying into the trash bin.

“What is it?” You ask with a tremor.

El pulled out the red lifeguard first aid kit, and then there was a lanyard, with a bright yellow whistle. Or it had been bright yellow. Now, like the lanyard, it was blood stained.

“Well shit,” You sighed.

--

And somehow, you ended up in the locker room of the pool, after discovering that Billy wasn’t there, and that the lifeguard first aid kit, and the whistle, belong to Heather Holloway. The locker room smelt like wet clothes and unwashed feet, something that was noticed by Max too as her nose curled up once you were in there. But there wasn’t much time to waste.

You start flooding the locker room, turning on showers, sink taps, everything that we can in order to help El find Heather. Find Billy.

“This could just be .. jerk Billy behavior right?” You asked Max, as El was putting duct tape over a diving mask. “You don’t think it’s…”

“I don’t know. He’s always been weird,” Max said, which you could understand. “But he was doing a lot better since you came here so…”

Although that was a really nice thing to hear, it didn’t help that much right now. “Wish it worked enough that he would actually talk to me when something is wrong,” You mumbled.

The two of you fell into silence when El put on the blacked out diving mask, and began to look for Heather. You sat on one side of her, Max on the other, your shoes becoming soaked by the flooded floor. You just looked at her. Her powers were fascinating to you. This was the first time that you had ever seen her use them.

“What do you see?” Max asked.

“A door. A red door.”

After another minute or two, El takes off the mask. Her nose bleeding. You immediately get up to find a towel while El collapses in Max’s hands. Your cousin and yourself look at each other, and you're both thinking the same thing.

Whatever this is - it’s not good.

She comes around a short time later, and she tells everything that she saw. The red door. Heather, the missing lifeguard, she’s screaming, she’s reaching to El for help, but then she gets quickly taken away by … something. And if it wasn’t something to do with the Upside Down, then El should have been able to see it. But it wasn’t clear what it was. Something was stirring in Hawkins again, and you were apparently going to be here for it.

In your still wet shoes, you flirt with the manager of the pool, and you get him to tell you the address of Heather. It took some eyelash batting but you got the job done, thanking him for being so helpful, and how he’s such a good man to do this favor, and you even wink at him, sticking your tongue out as you turn back around.

You take the address with me back to Max and El, who are getting ready on their bikes.. “Let’s go,” You said, jumping onto the back of Max's, holding on to her shoulders.

The streets aren’t flooded yet but if the rain continues, they just might be.

Max knew the city better than you or El, but the three of you were squinting through raindrops, trying to read the numbers on the mailboxes to find the right one and then - red door.

“Is this it?” Max asked.

El nodded and together, you three walked up. You felt responsible for these kids now. Was this how Steve had felt, when he watched over them at the junkyard? When he nearly sacrificed himself to take care of the demodogs, as Dustin had called them? Whatever, you just knew that you were going to go through everything that they did. Not leave them alone in the off chance that there was something, anything that you could do.

Especially if Billy was somehow involved.

We didn’t bother knocking. Or rather, El didn’t, since she somehow unlocked the door with her mind. You walked in behind them and noticed that the interior made everything really look like it was the perfect family home. As you walked down the hallway, you saw a large family portrait. Professionally done. Mother, Father, Daughter, happy posing smiles. Looking like something straight out of Leave it to Beaver.

You hear a laugh and the three of you looked at each other. It was the last sound that you expected to hear, if Heather was really in trouble. And then seeing the happy family together, with Billy sitting there, was the last thing that you had expected to see.

“Isn’t that cute, huh?” Billy was saying.

“He’s too funny,” Mother was saying to Father.

And that’s the scene that we walked in on. And just because we were in the shot of it now, didn’t mean that it was over, apparently. Billy saw you. He saw Max. He said your names out loud.

“We didn’t mean to barge in,” Max said, speaking for the three of you. El and Max both looked like they were in disbelief. You were studying Billy, trying to figure out what was so different about him. “We tried to knock, but maybe you didn’t hear us over the storm.”

“I’m sorry, who is this dripping all over my living room right now?”

“I’m sorry,” Billy said. That was one of the startling things right there. He didn’t apologize for anything. Not unless he was being forced to and even then, it only ever came out as sarcastic. “Janet, Tom, this is my sister Maxine, and my cousin Y/N.”

He stood up, and started to walk over to you, El and Max. You stood your ground, dripping but not moving, and you were looking straight into his blue eyes.

You had known Billy all of your life. You spent time together in the same crib. The same playpens. He was at almost all of your birthday parties until they had moved here to Indiana. He was the one that you went to when you were angry, because he either helped hype up that anger until you burnt yourself out, or he was able to help you, when he didn’t even know how to help himself. He was the boy that was only scared of his dad and of dark places, like caves, or even the tubes inside of McDonalds play-places when the lights were dimmed.

So essentially, you knew Billy. Better than his father did, better than Max did. The only person who might have known him better was his mother. The person whose eyes that you were looking into right now - you knew that it was not Billy. It might have looked like Billy. But it was definitely not him. Like someone made a doll of him, a puppet. There might have been a trace, far back, but right behind those eyes was someone else. Something Else.

“What on earth are you doing here? Is something wrong?”

Your immediate reaction was to protect these girls, despite the fact that Eleven was an actual weapon and that Max could definitely handle herself, as she showed Billy last fall. You are the adult here. You need to act like it. So you pushed yourself between the two girls, standing in front of them, even as they spoke.

“We just wanted to make sure everything was okay,” Max said, her confusion showing through her voice. And now here was fake Billy with his fake concern.

“Okay, why wouldn’t it be okay?”

“Where is she?” Eleven asked.

“I’m sorry, where is who?”

Coming out of the kitchen, carrying a tray of cookies, the smell hitting you before the realization of who it was that was carrying them, came Heather. Not a scratch on her. Almost too squeaky clean. Not at all the way that Eleven had described.

But because of how Billy was acting, you believed Eleven. There was something not right going on here.

“Well, they’re a little burnt, I’m sorry-” Heather said, in her usually sweet voice. It was definitely her own voice, her own face. But whether it was actually Heather, you didn’t know. This whole scene was looking a bit too.. domestic bliss.

“Heather, this is my cousin y/n, and my sister Maxine,” Billy introduced. “And I’m sorry, I did not catch your name.”

“That’s not important,” You spoke, staring at Billy. “What are you doing here?”

That’s when El spoke, not to say her name, but to stare at Heather. “I … saw … you -”

“Your manager, at the pool,” Max said quickly. “He said you guys didn’t come in to work today, so we got worried.”

“Heather wasn’t feeling so hot today, so we thought we’d take the day off to nurse her back to health. But you’re feeling just fine now, aren’t you Heather?”

“I’m feeling so much better,” Heather agreed.

Billy looked past you at Eleven. And the look that was in his eyes - it proved to you even further that this was not your cousin. This was not the Billy that you had grown up with. There was something else in there, wearing his skin. Pretending that this was Halloween and that this boy was simply a costume. The three of you were offered cookies by Heather and her mother but you weren’t going to take them.

You didn’t want to leave without Billy. “Could you drive us home?” you asked him, pleaded with the Billy that still had to be inside of there somewhere. You couldn’t believe that he was gone. “It’s raining pretty hard out.”

“I can’t be rude,” Billy said, which was … not true. Billy could be rude. Billy was rude. The light drained from your eyes then, and you turned to the girls behind you. “Let’s go.”

The three of you in disbelief, you headed back outside into the rain. You didn’t skateboard this time. You just tucked it under your arm and walked along with the girls as they moved slowly, not able to see too much as the fog rolled in with the pelting drops. You took one last look over your shoulder at Heather’s house, and saw Billy, watching through the window. The look that he exchanged with El was more chilling than the cold rain.