Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

1978

Lisa Henderson hurried into the small library of her new school, deciding to hide amidst the books for her lunch rather than face the horror of sitting alone in the cafeteria on her first day of sixth grade. As she'd realised during her first few classes at Hawkins Middle School, almost everyone was friends from elementary school, while Lisa and her brother Dustin had just moved to Hawkins following their parents' divorce.

Lisa hurried to the history section, knowing that no student, other than her, would bother to spend their lunch hiding between bookshelves, let alone next to the volumes of history books.

Lisa sat down and pulled out her packed lunch that her mother had made for her, and hoped that her brother was having a better first day than she was in second grade. Lisa bit into her sandwich and opened a copy of 'A History of Hawkins' on the carpet in front of her, but a noise down the aisle made her pause.

She stopped chewing and looked around, but there was no one there. After another beat of silence she shrugged and turned back to the book, but then a small thud made her jump. She put down her sandwich and closed the book, and then quietly made her way in the direction of the sound as she heard another thud coming from a wooden trunk against the wall, which was presumably full of extra paper or whatever supplies would be in a school library..

She stopped in front of the trunk and slowly leaned down to open it, her nerves growing at what might be making the noise. When she pushed the top of the trunk open, the last thing she expected to see was a gangly boy wedged in an awkward foetal position inside.

"Oh, hey," he said casually, giving her a small salute with his fingers, which appeared to be the only part of him he could move.

"Um, hi?" Lisa replied, staring down at him in shock.

"I don't suppose you could give me a hand? I'm kind of stuck here," the boy said, holding out a hand.

Lisa blinked in surprise, but then nodded and took the boy's hand and tried to pull him out of the trunk, and after a few attempts, he managed to clamber out.

He stood up and brushed off his t-shirt, and then he grinned at her, "thanks, I thought I was going to die in there."

"What were you doing in there?" she asked curiously.

The boy smiled sheepishly, "I put bang-snaps, you know the firework-thingies, under Mr Wilson's desk and now he's out to get me."

"Oh, why?"

"For fun, obviously," he said, and then he held out his hand to her.

"I'm Steve. Steve Harrington. I'm in the seventh grade."

"I'm Lisa Henderson, sixth grade," she shook his hand shyly.

"Oh, you're the new kid!" he said excitedly.

Lisa cringed, "yeah."

"That's cool. Did you move here with your family?"

Lisa shook her head as they walked back to where her school bag and lunch lay discarded, "me and my brother Dustin moved here with our mom after our parents got divorced."

Steve considered that for a moment, "that's tough that you've had to move to a whole new place. Hawkins is great though, you'll like it here. Have you made any friends yet?"

"No," she gestured to her bag where her packed lunch was sitting on top of it. "I was eating lunch here."

Steve nodded thoughtfully, "stay here, I'll be right back."

Steve came back a few minutes later with his own tray from the cafeteria, and somehow managed to sneak it past the librarian.

He grinned cheerfully at her surprised expression, "what?"

"Don't you have friends you eat lunch with?"

He shrugged and opened a bottle of Coca Cola, "I'm friends with everyone. Besides, you're my friend now too."

Lisa's eyes widened, "I am?"

Steve nodded and handed her a bar of chocolate, "of course you are!"

He sat down and joined Lisa for lunch, and in the following days, Steve introduced her to some of his friends who were also a year older than she was. They hung out everyday after that, even on the weekends and over the school breaks, having become the best of friends.

Everything was great, and Lisa was finally happy with her new life and her new friend, at least until it all came crashing down.

Two Years Later

Lisa could barely contain her excitement as she walked through the doors of Hawkins High School for her first day of Freshman year. Her mood was in complete contrast to her last time starting at a new school, because now she was at last going to be in the same school as her best friend once again.

Steve had left middle school the previous year to start high school and in his absence, Lisa had gotten close with a quiet boy named Jonathan Byers, and the two often ate lunch at the bikeshed away from the circus that was the cafeteria.

Despite having other friends, however, Lisa was beyond looking forward to seeing Steve again.

She'd hardly seen him over the last few months, and he'd spent the entire summer on vacation with his parents, which he'd only told her when they accidentally bumped into each other outside the movie theatre a month previously, though he said he was in a rush and left in a hurry without staying to talk to her.

She felt herself grinning as she spotted him down the corridor at the lockers with two people she recognised as Tommy and Carol, people she'd never spoken to despite having seen them occasionally hanging around with Steve in middle school.

She hurried up to him, hoisting her backpack higher onto her shoulders, "Steve!"

His eyes went wide in what looked like panic when he saw her, but before he could speak, Tommy turned around and his face turned into a menacing grin.

"Henderson? That's you isn't it?" the boy asked her.

"Um, that's me. I just wanted to talk to St-"

"So you're the girl who's been obsessed with Steve for the past two years?" Carol asked with a cruel smirk.

"I- what?" Lisa thought she was being pranked, she didn't know what was going on.

"That's what you told us, right, Harrington?" Tommy said loudly.

Steve opened his mouth to answer but Carol interrupted him, "you really do look like a stray puppy, don't you? Were you really friends with her, Steve?"

"I-"

Tommy interrupted Steve, "of course not, that's what he's been telling us all summer, right Steve?"

"I thought you were on vacation with your parents all summer?" Lisa said suddenly, speaking up for the first time as their words began to sink in.

"Oh my God. Is that what he told you?" Carol asked mockingly, barely fighting a laugh.

"Probably the only way you could keep her away, right Harrington?" Tommy asked, elbowing Steve in the ribs.

"I don't understand," Lisa said quietly, looking up at Steve who wouldn't meet her gaze.

"Um, what are you wearing? Did your mom buy you that?" Carol asked abruptly

Lisa tore her eyes from Steve and looked down at her worn dungarees, "um- yes she did but-"

"Let me guess, at KMart? That's, like, so embarrassing," Carol snickered.

Lisa looked at Steve again, waiting for him to finally stand up for her, having stood silently while his friends put her down right in front of him.

"Steve?"

He said nothing, and she felt her eyes well up with tears.

"Are you crying?" Tommy asked, bending down to peer into her face, "seriously?"

Lisa couldn't take any more, she shouldered past Tommy and hurried down the corridor.

"Lisa, wait!"

She ignored Steve as he ran after her, and he moved in front of her to block her path.

"What, so you know me now, do you?" she asked, her voice trembling.

Steve grimaced and ran a hand through his hair, "Lisa, you have to understand, high school is different- I have a reputation to maintain."

She just looked at him, no longer recognising the boy she once considered her best friend, "who are you, Steve?"

"What?" he asked, looking as though she'd slapped him. She almost wished she had.

She shook her head, "nevermind, it doesn't matter."

She tried to walk away but he took her by the arm, "Lisa, just hold on a second-"

"No, Steve!" She snapped furiously, and a few students turned in their direction. "I'd hate to tarnish your reputation, so you're getting what you want. Have a nice life, Harrington."

"Lis-"

She shoved him back by the chest, her eyes blazing, "never talk to me again."

Steve watched as she walked away, pushing past their fellow students to hurry into the girl's bathroom. He felt sick, but all the same, he turned and walked back to where Tommy and Carol were waiting for him, laughing at the situation.

Tommy looped an arm around Steve's neck and pulled him into a headlock, "you were right about that one, Harrington. Totally crazy."

Meanwhile, Lisa was trying to keep her crying quiet in the girl's bathroom, but only one other person was in the bathroom with her and could obviously hear her sniffles.

There was a knock on the cubicle door, "hey, are you okay in there?"

"Oh, um- no. Not really," Lisa mumbled tearfully.

"Want to talk about it?" the girl on the other side asked.

"Not really," Lisa repeated in more of a whisper.

The girl was quiet for a moment, "I have some makeup in my bag, I can help you get cleaned up if you like?"

Lisa unlocked the door, and on the other side was a girl with wavy brown hair and a kind face. Lisa recognised her from around the large middle school but hadn't spoken to her before.

"That would be great."

The girl handed her a few damp tissues from the tap, and Lisa smiled gratefully and wiped her eyes.

"Here, some lipstick. My mom always swears by dabbing some on your lips and cheeks," the girl said, holding a tube of lipstick out to her.

"That's pretty smart," Lisa replied, smiling slightly despite how hurt she was inside.

"I'm Nancy Wheeler," the girl said with a soft smile.

"Lisa, Lisa Henderson," Lisa said as she dabbed on the lipstick as Nancy had suggested.

"Dustin's sister?"

"Yeah, that's me," Lisa said, surprised. "Wait, Wheeler? Mike is your brother isn't he?"

Nancy nodded, "yeah. Oh, I think we're in the same homeroom actually. I met another freshman earlier, a really nice girl named Barb. Wanna hang out before class?"

Lisa smiled, "I'd like that, Nancy."

"Oh, before we go," Nancy rooted in her bag and pulled out some pins. "Can't hide that pretty face, can we?"

Lisa stared wide-eyed as Nancy reached up to pin her brown curls back over her ears.

"There," Nancy grinned at her. "Let's go."

The two girls walked out of the bathroom, and Nancy linked her arm through Lisa's as they walked down the hall. Steve Harrington watched from down the corridor, watching her walk away, down the corridor and out of his life.

Lisa did her best not to spare Steve another thought, and after a long few months, she no longer had to pretend that she wasn't upset about what had happened between them.

She ignored him, and pretended that he didn't exist. And while he became one of the most popular guys in the school as time went on, Lisa was happy with her small, tight-knit group of friends.

She became inseparable from Nancy, and close with Barb who usually kept to herself most of the time, but was a good friend nonetheless. Lisa continued to hang out with Jonathan between classes, usually finding him in the darkroom of the photography lab.

Lisa learned to move on, and there came a point when she no longer wanted to cry at the thought of Steve Harrington, because he barely crossed her mind at all.

Chapter Text

1983

“Dustin, come on! We’re going to be late!”

“I’m cycling to Lucas’ house!”

“Could you not have told me that earlier? I’ve been waiting for you!” Lisa scowled at her brother and then drove to school, picking Nancy up on the way.

“I have news,” Nancy told her as soon as she climbed into the car, and she was positively beaming.

“Spill,” Lisa asked in amusement, looking over at her friend.

Nancy squealed a little bit, “...I’m seeing someone.”

Lisa gaped at her and then grinned, “I knew it! I knew it! Barb and I had a feeling something was going on. You were so secretive all summer, and you couldn’t stop smiling yesterday. Who is it!?”

Nancy wiggles her eyebrows conspiratorially, “it’s a secret, I’ll introduce you to him at lunch.”

“Nancy Wheeler, you little minx,” Lisa laughed.

After parking, the two girls walked into school and while Nancy went to her locker, Lisa headed straight to class.

During her morning break, Lisa headed to the library to find a few books for her history essay which she’d been assigned despite it only being her second day back at school, and she silently cursed the slacking she’d done over the summer break. Her hand was going to cramp from writing in no time.

Putting on her headphones to cut out the noise from the corridor, she pressed play on her Walkman as she walked through the aisles. Stevie Nicks’ new album had just come out that June and Lisa hadn’t been listening to anything else, and did her very best not to sing along right there in the library as the music began playing from the cassette tape.

Preoccupied by reading the spines of the books and with her headphones on, she didn’t hear someone walking around the corner, and she ploughed straight into a very tall person.

“Shit, sorry,” she said quickly, yanking her headphones down around her neck.

“Lisa?”

She froze and looked up at the person she’d bumped into, who was talking to her for the first time in a whole year, the last time being during that awful first morning of her freshman year.

“Oh,” she said tightly, her fingers tightening around the book she held to her chest.

She actually debated whacking him with it, but she was better than that. She could imagine doing it all she wanted though.

Again and again and-

“Hi,” Steve said awkwardly.

She was not a violent person, so she took a deep breath, loosening her grip on the book.

A tense silence stretched between them then, so Lisa cleared her throat, “ahem, well, I’ll be going-”

“No, wait.” She stopped and he seemed to be looking for something to say, “how…how have you been, Lisa?”

Unbelievable.

“Fine, thanks. You?” she replied sharply, the memory of her first day of freshman year playing on her mind for the first time in a while.

“Er- I’m good too, thanks.”

An awkward silence arose once more and Lisa picked at the cover of the book she was holding, and then she opened her mouth to once again excuse herself, but Steve spoke before she could.

“Have you seen Nancy around?”

“Nancy?” she asked in disbelief. She’d never even seen them talk to each other.

“Uh, yeah. I was going to pick her up for school but she said you’d already offered.”

Lisa felt like her brain might explode, “sorry, I’m confused. How do you know Nancy?”

Steve scratched the back of his neck, visibly uncomfortable, “shit, um, she didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what? Wait- it’s you. You’re the guys she’s seeing,” she answered her own question.

“Yeah.”

“Okay,” Lisa felt a lump rising in her throat, “okay. Cool, um. Cool, great, that’s really great.”

“Lisa-”

She waved her hand dismissively, “I’ve gotta go, um-” She backed into a shelf and knocked a few books to the floor, “shit.”

“Here, let me-”

“It’s fine-”

“Just let me-”

“I said it’s fine, Steve,” she said sharply, and loudly, and shushes echoed from the tables nearby.

She shoved the books back onto their shelves and backed away from Steve slightly, and they stood in silence. Steve shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and looked down at her almost as if trying to read her. She pushed her curly bangs back from her face, feeling herself beginning to sweat with the discomfort and uneasiness she was feeling.

The bell signalling the end of break blared loudly, making them both jump, but Lisa welcomed the sound like she never had before as it broke the suffocating air between them.

“I’d better go,” she mumbled and she hurried out of the library without waiting for a response.

Lunch rolled around quickly and Lisa sat down at a table in the cafeteria next to Barb who was writing out her calculus notes in silence.

Lisa was good friends with Barb, and despite the other girl being extremely quiet and unwilling to socialise much outside of class, Lisa always felt at ease in her presence. Lisa underlined a few quotes in her new book for English class and reread the chapter while eating her lunch, and she and Barb sat in comfortable silence until Nancy came over.

“Lisa, Barb, this is Steve,” Lisa looked up and almost dropped her book onto her plate. Steve nodded awkwardly at them and Barb gave him a single nod of acknowledgement before turning back to her notes.

Nancy’s smile turned tight and she raised her eyebrows. Lisa looked up at Steve with her most calm and collected expression despite wanting to scream.

“Steve.”

“Lisa.”

Nancy looked between them, “do you two know each other already?”

“No,” Lisa said.

“Yes,” Steve said at the same time.

Nancy raised her eyebrows even higher, and Lisa cleared her throat, “are you joining us, Nancy?”

“Um, well actually I was going to sit with Steve, Tommy and Carol today.”

Barb dropped her pencil and looked up, “really, Nancy?”

“It’s just for today!”

“You were joining us tomorrow as well, no?” Steve furrowed his brows at Nancy.

Nancy grew flustered, “no! Well, I mean- yes.”

The girls said nothing and Nancy awkwardly waved at them and then dragged Steve away. Lisa and Barb shared a look, and Barb rolled her eyes and shook her head, then went back to her notes.

Lisa felt a bit guilty for not telling Nancy about how she had known Steve, very well in fact, but it had never come up before now.

She’d never wanted to talk about it with anyone, and she hadn’t told anyone until Jonathan. As observant as always, he’d picked up on her hidden sadness over the Christmas holidays the year before and she’d told him everything that had happened.

Jonathan had already hated Steve, but this made him hate him even more.

But now, Lisa knew she couldn’t bring it up with Nancy. Nancy was her best friend in the whole world, and she couldn’t do it to her, especially knowing that her happiness over the past few weeks had been down to the guy she’d been dating.

Who of course, just had to be Steve.

Unless she did it to warn her, in case Steve turned on Nancy the same way he had with Lisa the year before, as if their two years of friendship had meant nothing to him.

“I’m gonna go look for Jonathan, wanna come with?” Lisa asked Barb abruptly, needing to clear her mind.

Barb pushed her glasses, further up her nose and gave her a genuine smile, “no, I think I’ll just finish these. I might come find you later though, okay?”

Lisa gathered her bag and waved to Barb, then dumped her tray and headed toward the back of the school. Knocking on the door to the photo lab, she walked in and found Jonathan hanging up some photographs in the dim red light.

He turned around and smiled at her, “oh, hey, Lisa.”

“Hey. Whatcha doing?” she asked, dropping her bag on the floor and approaching his workbench.

“The PTA had me take photos of the refurbished gym for the paper,” he said evenly, and then he chuckled, “exciting right?”

“Totally,” she smiled back at him, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Jonathan studied her for a moment and then put down his roll of film, “everything okay, Lise?”

She groaned and fiddled with her braid, pulling it down over her shoulder to pull some curly strands out of the hair tie. “It’s Nancy, she’s seeing someone.”

Jonathan opened his mouth and closed it again, then after some consideration he spoke again, “really? Who?”

“Steve Harrington.”

“Wait- what?” Jonathan exclaimed in very obvious disbelief.

Lisa sighed loudly and sat down on a stool, “I know.”

“Well, that puts you in a shit situation,” Jonathan said, leaning against the counter next to her. “I’m guessing she still doesn’t know about freshman year?”

“No, she doesn’t.”

“You should tell her, she won’t want to be with him then, problem solved,” Jonathan shrugged as if it were the most simple solution in the world.

“I don’t know, Jonathan. She seems to really like him. Besides, I don’t want her to break up with him just because I don’t like him. I just worry he’ll drop her when she’s not the shiny new toy anymore.”

Jonathan squeezed her shoulder gently, “yeah, but she’s also your best friend-”

“Apart from you.”

Jonathan grinned, “apart from me. Maybe you should tell her, so at least then she’ll know why you don’t want to be BFFs with him.”

She looked at him and couldn’t bite back her grin, “hold up, did Jonathan Byers just say BFF? Now that’s something the school paper should write about.”

“Shut up,” he said, shaking his head in amusement.

“Hey, want me to bring Will to the Wheelers’ today? I’m bringing Dustin anyway and going to study with Nance, so it’s no problem. I know his bike is in the shop.”

He gave her a grateful smile, “that would be great, actually, thanks Lisa.”

The bell signalling the end of lunch rang out and Lisa stood up with a long-suffering sigh, “back into the fray, I guess I’ll catch up with you tomorrow. Tell your mom I say hi.”

“You gotta come over for dinner again soon, she won’t stop pestering me about it,” Jonathan answered with a pleading look.

Lisa chuckled at that, and after saying goodbye to him, she went to her locker.

She was rooting through her locker when Nancy came up to her, looking ashamed, “Lisa, I am so sorry about today, I didn’t mean to blow you off like that- it’s just, I really like Steve.”

Lisa feigned a glare, but she couldn’t stand the look on Nancy’s face so she relaxed into a forgiving smile, “you’ll just have to make me apology cookies for our homework session tonight.”

Nancy gave her a relieved smile, “deal.”

~

A few months later, Lisa was once again studying with Nancy in her bedroom while the boys played downstairs in the Wheelers’ basement.

Nancy sighed loudly and rolled over on her back, dropping her notebook onto her stomach, “Lisa, do you feel like I’m neglecting you?”

Lisa almost choked on her soda, “uh, what?”

Nancy propped her head up on her hand, leaning on her elbow, “I know I’m spending a lot of time with Steve lately, but you’re still my best friend. You know that right?”

“No, I thought you just hung out with me for my sharp wit and good looks,” Lisa said dryly.

Nancy laughed and shoved her shoulder playfully, “Lisa, be serious.”

“I am being serious. Look, Nancy, you clearly like him and if he’s making you happy then that’s all that matters, right?”

“Even if you don’t like him?”

“Even if I don’t like him.”

Nancy fixed her with a serious look, “what happened between you anyway? I asked Steve and he told me to ask you, and you told me to ask him so I’m at an impasse.”

Lisa bit her lip, choosing her next words carefully, “we used to be friends, until we weren’t. That’s all.”

Nancy raised her brows pointedly, “that’s clearly not all.”

It was Lisa’s turn to flop back on the bed, “you’re relentless, Wheeler.”

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, staying quiet for a long moment to plan what she was going to say. She already predicted that this conversation would give her a headache.

Nancy, sensing that this was an important conversation to Lisa, sat up and crossed her legs beneath her, giving Lisa her full attention.

“You can tell me, Lise,” Nancy said earnestly.

Lisa nodded and sat up too, leaning back against the headboard and taking a deep breath, “he was my best friend in middle school. In fact, he was my first friend when I moved to Hawkins, even before Jonathan.”

“I didn’t know that,” Nancy said softly, “I thought Jonathan was your first friend.”

“Well, I wish he had been,” Lisa said. “Steve dropped me as soon as he got popular in high school.”

“Lisa, I honestly didn’t know,” Nancy said, taking her hand and drawing her eyebrows together in a mix of sympathy and disbelief.

“Not many do, to be honest. I didn’t even realise we weren’t friends anymore until the first day of freshman year. I thought he’d been on vacation that whole summer but he’d just lied about it so he could avoid me. I was so excited to see him again, Nancy. So excited.” Lisa blinked quickly and cleared her throat.

“Anyway, the first day of freshman year, he let Tommy H and Carol talk shit about me right to my face, when I tried to talk to him. He’d obviously made me out to be some sort of freak who wouldn’t leave him alone.”

She met Nancy’s horrified expression with a wry smile, “and that’s when I met you in the bathroom. So it wasn’t all bad.”

Nancy shook her head, “so that’s why you were crying in the bathroom? You said it was nerves about school.”

“Maybe it was a bit of that too, can’t give all the credit to Harrington,” Lisa said, trying to lighten the mood, but Nancy could see right through it.

She tackled Lisa with a hug, “I’m so sorry, Lise.”

Lisa chuckled and patted Nancy’s back, snuggling her best friend fondly, “it’s fine. Maybe he’s changed. And I’m sorry for always leaving whenever he comes over, I’ll try harder to be civil, okay?”

“You don’t have to do that, I completely understand now-”

“Nancy, you like him, I’ll try,” Lisa told her. “No promises on how nice I’ll be, but I’ll try to at least be civil.”

Nancy leaned back from the hug with a huge smile, “you will? Are you sure?”

Lisa grinned and then shoved Nancy away by the face, “yeah, but if he puts a toe out of line I will end him.”

Nancy snorted, rolling onto her back, “noted.”

They shared amused looks between them and then went back to their notes for a while until the sound of someone clearing their throat came from the door.

They looked over and Dustin and Lucas were standing on the threshold of Nancy’s room with idiotic grins on their faces.

“Yes?” Lisa asked.

“Nancy, there’s a slice left if you want it-” Dustin held up a pizza box.

Lucas elbowed his way into the room ahead of Dustin, “hi, Lisa.”

Dustin elbowed Lucas, “gross, dude, that’s my sister.”

“Yeah and? That’s Mike’s sister!” Lucas retorted, waving a hand in Nancy’s direction.

Nancy scowled and climbed off the bed, shutting the door in their faces. Once she sat back on the bed, the two girls shared a look and burst into laughter.

Later, Lisa was putting on her coat to head home with Dustin while the other boys grabbed their things too.

“Do either of you want me to drive you home?”

Lucas beamed at her, “yea-”

“Lucas is fine,” Dustin said bluntly, Lisa shrugged and turned to Will, “what about you, bud? It’s cold out.”

“No, I'm fine, Lisa. Thanks though,” Will said shyly. He and his brother were so alike at times, too quiet and unsuspecting for anyone to pay attention and see how great they really were.

She ruffled his hair fondly, “okay, get Jonathan to give me a call when you’re back, okay?”

He gave her a quick side hug, “he’s doing an extra shift at work tonight so he won’t be home ‘til late.”

Lisa nodded, “no worries, I’ll see him tomorrow anyway. Call me or Dustin when you’re home, ‘kay?”

Will gave her a toothy smile and nodded, and then he and Lucas were hopping on their bikes.

“Nancy’s turned into a real jerk since she started dating that douchebag, Steve Harrington,” Dustin scowled as he climbed into the passenger seat.

“Maybe she’s just sick of your little crush, dude. It was cute when you were a child, but now it’s just weird.”

“Shut up, Lisa.”

“You shut up. And put on your damn seatbelt.”

Chapter Text

The following morning, Lisa walked to her locker while Nancy went to talk to one of their teachers before class. Tommy H was leaning on her locker while talking to Steve, who was clearly waiting for Nancy whose locker was just a few down from Lisa’s.

She walked up to them, “excuse me, that’s my locker.”

Tommy looked her up and down with a smirk, “okay, and?”

“Could you remove yourself from it?”

Tommy wiggled his eyebrows at her, “and what’s the magic word, sweetheart?”

Lisa stared him in the eyes, “now.”

“Nah, I don’t think that’s-”

“Come on man, just move,” Steve said to Tommy who rolled his eyes and moved away, but not before he intentionally knocked the books from her hands and onto the floor.

Steve groaned in frustration while Lisa just stared at Tommy, “seriously? Are you twelve?”

“What are you gonna do? Go cry about it?”

Lisa stepped close to him with a sickly sweet smile, her voice low but venomous, “no, but I will tell your girlfriend about you hitting on me on your way back from gym class last week. That is, if you don’t pick up my books and apologise.”

Tommy swallowed angrily and noticed Carol approaching them from down the corridor, Lisa followed his gaze and raised her eyebrows pointedly. Tommy slowly bent down to pick up her books and then handed them back to her with a mumbled apology.

“I didn’t quite catch that,” she said, tilting her head at him.

He rolled his eyes, “I'm sorry, okay? Jesus.”

“That’s okay, Tommy. Accidents happen,” she said sweetly and he hooked his arm around Carol’s shoulders, steering her away from them before she could stop to chat.

Steve looked down at her with his eyebrows raised, “well, that was-”

“Epic? Spectacular? Groundbreaking?” she answered with disinterest as she put in her combination to unlock her locker.

“All of the above, actually,” he said with a hesitant smile.

Without realising, she was almost automatically returning his smile, so she quickly turned back to her locker which she pulled open, blocking his face from view with the door.

“So, um, is Nancy around?” he asked after clearing his throat.

“She’s asking about our algebra homework before class so she won’t be here for another few minutes.”

Steve ran a hand through his hair sheepishly, “oh, it’s nothing. I’ll see you later.”

“Okay,” she answered simply, opening her bag to pile some books into her locker as he walked away.

A few minutes later, Nancy and Barb walked up and greeted her. Nancy opened her locker and a note fell out, and when she read it a smile grew on her face.

Lisa snorted, “he left you a note? That explains a lot.”

“What?” Nancy asked, her cheeks flushing.

“Steve was just here, he must’ve put that in your locker before I got here. So cliché.”

“Did you talk to him?” Nancy asked with her eyes wide.

“Uh, yes?”

Nancy grinned, “and you didn’t kill him! That’s definite progress.”

“I thought about it, believe me,” she huffed.

Nancy shrugged with a smile, “good, we love inside thoughts that stay inside thoughts.”

Barb laughed and shook her head in amusement, and Lisa nudged Nancy in the arm, “shut up Wheeler, there’s still time.”

Nancy smirked and then looked down at the note in her hand, “I gotta go, I’ll see you guys in class!”

Lisa watched as Nancy hurried off and Barb let out a sigh, “he’s gonna break her heart.”

“Let’s hope he doesn’t, or he’ll get a book in the face,” Lisa mumbled.

Barb snorted, and the two made their way to class.

—

Will Byers didn’t show up to school that day.

On the phone to Jonathan that evening, Lisa pinched the bridge of her nose in worry, “...and what do the police think?”

Jonathan sighed on the other end of the line, “they think he got lost on his way home last night. Or ran away.”

“Goddammit, I should’ve brought him home. He said he was okay and would call when he was back. When he didn’t I just assumed he forgot and went to bed. I’m so sorry Jonathan, I should’ve-”

“Don’t do that Lisa,” Jonathan said pleadingly, “trust me, if you let yourself think like that it’s a dark hole and I’m barely keeping myself together as it is. It’s not your fault.”

“You’re right, sorry,” she felt guilty at expressing her worries when it wasn’t even her brother who hadn’t come home. “We should go out looking for him, right?”

“The police want us to stay put while they search for themselves,” Jonathan told her.

“Hopper is seriously going with that? The more of us that look, the higher chance we’ll have of finding him sooner.”

“That’s what I said. Look, I gotta go, Mom is freaking out again. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Tell her we’re here for her, for both of you, alright? Talk soon.” They hung up and Lisa turned around to see Dustin pacing.

“Any news?” he asked her immediately.

“Not yet, buddy, I’ll keep you updated if I learn anything else.”

He nodded and began fidgeting.

Lisa put her arm around his shoulders, “come on let’s watch one of the new tapes you got yesterday, until we hear more.”

He agreed and they sat with their mom in the living room to watch a movie, though both Lisa and Dustin’s eyes kept darting to the phone, as if looking at it would make it ring with news that Will had shown up.

Over dinner that night, Lisa put her fork down after spending a few minutes pushing her peas around on her plate. “Mom, we need to join that search party in the woods.”

“Agreed,” Dustin chimed in straight away.

Their mother, who was normally not strict, gave them a stern look, “absolutely not. Do you really think I’m about to let my sixteen-year old daughter and twelve-year old son wander the woods at a time like this? There’s absolutely no way.”

“Mom-” Lisa protested.

Dustin spoke at the same time, “but it’s Will, Mom!”

Mrs Henderson put her fork back on the table and stared fiercely at them, her normally sweet voice turning fierce, “I said no. You know how fond I am of Will, but you have to let the professionals do their jobs. You’ll only make things more difficult for them if you try to get involved. And I don’t want you to get lost too.”

They ate their dinner in silence then, and as Lisa lay in bed she couldn’t help but consider all the ‘what ifs’ that filled her mind. What if she’d driven Will home that night, or what if someone else had driven him home and taken him?

The news these days was filled with horror stories from around the country, of missing women and disappearing kids. She felt sick at the idea, and did her best to push the thoughts from her mind so she could sleep.

At breakfast the next morning, Dustin was quiet.

Lisa looked at him suspiciously and he fidgeted under her observation, “what are you looking at?”

“You have mud on your face, did you go out in the garden last night or something?” she asked.

Dustin spluttered indignantly, stalling by cutting up his bacon, “no, the cat climbed on me.”

Lisa sighed. She knew it was bullshit, but if her brother wanted to roll around in the garden then that was his issue, not hers.

Besides, she had more important things to worry about than her brother's odd habits, like the chemistry test that morning. It was the only thing she could think about that distracted her from Will being missing.

After dropping Dustin off at the middle school she parked the car at the high school and walked purposely towards her locker.

Nancy and Barb were there already, quizzing each other on chemistry. Just as Nancy began to answer Barb’s question, Steve snatched Nancy’s flashcards from Barb’s hands.

“I don’t know, I think you’ve studied enough, Nance,” Steve said with a smirk.

“Steve…” Nancy protested.

Steve continued, “I’m telling you, y’know, you’ve got this.”

Tommy came up behind Steve and poked Barb in the ribs and then pulled the hair tie from the bottom of Lisa’s plait, releasing her curly hair which she had just styled before school.

She snatched the elastic band back from Tommy with a scowl and fixed her hair back up, glaring at the undesirable trio of Steve, Tommy and Carol.

“Don’t worry,” Steve straightened up in a way that came across as cocky and Lisa felt her skin prickling with anger. “Now, onto more important matters; my dad has left town on a conference and my mom’s gone with him, ‘cause, y’know, she doesn’t trust him-”

“Good call,” Tommy butted in.

“So, are you in?” Steve raised his eyebrows at Nancy, and then his eyes slid to Lisa briefly but she narrowed her eyes and he looked away.

“‘In’ for what?”

“No parents? Big house?” Carol said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“A party?” Nancy answered hesitantly, and Lisa could see Barb scowling in the corner of her eye.

“Ding, ding, ding!” Carol said sarcastically.

“It’s Tuesday,” Lisa said shortly.

“‘It’s Tuesday!’” Tommy mocked her, “who even said you were invited, Henderson?”

“She’s invited, Tommy, it’s my house,” Steve said to his friend who rolled his eyes. “You too, Barb, if you want.”

“I don’t know, Steve,” Nancy said.

“C’mon, it’ll be low key, it’ll just be us. What do you say? Are you in or are you out?” Steve asked her.

His gaze flickered briefly to Lisa again but she didn’t notice, she was looking over her shoulder to where Jonathan had stopped at a notice board on the wall, and was putting up missing posters for Will.

Carol spoke up, “oh god, look.”

Steve replied, “God, that’s depressing.”

“Seriously?” Lisa snapped.

At the same time Nancy glared at them, “his brother is missing.”

Lisa scowled and walked over to her friend.

“Jonathan,” she said quietly, and he turned around to look at her, the dark circles under his eyes and the paleness of his face enough to make her heart break for him.

She immediately pulled him into a hug, rubbing his back as he basically clung to her, almost sagging in relief, and she could tell he’d really needed that hug.

When they pulled back she pointed to the posters of Will he had in his hand, “let me take some, I’ll put them up during my free period.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, his eyes flicking over her shoulder to the others.

“I’m sure. And ignore them, they’re assholes,” she told him firmly and he nodded.

Taking a bundle of posters from him, she opened her mouth to say something but Nancy walked up to them.

“Hey,” she said to Jonathan.

His eyes widened at her presence, “oh, hey.”

“I just…I wanted to say, you know, um…I’m sorry, about everything,” Nancy said anxiously and Jonathan once again looked over to the group over their shoulders.

“Everyone’s thinking about you,” she said to him, “it…it sucks.”

Jonathan looked at her with suspicion, considering they’d hardly ever spoken before, “yeah.”

“I’m sure he’s fine, he’s a smart kid,” Nancy said, trying to be reassuring, and just then the bell rang, and Nancy looked relieved to have a reason to go, “we have to go, chemistry test.”

Jonathan nodded, “oh, yeah.”

Nancy quickly walked away and Lisa gave Jonathan another hug and looked him straight in the eye, “if there’s anything I can do, anything we can do, ask.”

Jonathan smiled sadly and squeezed her wrist gently in gratitude, “thanks, Lise.”

Lisa gave him a kind smile before walking back down the hall.

“Wow, one freak to another,” Tommy snickered.

“Your fly’s open, asshole. Careful or your tiny dick might fall out,” Lisa told him loudly as she walked past.

As she walked, an announcement came over the intercom system, “attention faculty and students. At 8pm tonight, there will be an assembly tonight on the football field in support of Will Byers and his family…”

As she walked, Lisa glanced over her shoulder to see Jonathan storming out of the school. She couldn’t imagine what he was going through, and she couldn’t imagine what sort of state she would be in if it had been Dustin who’d gone missing.

She felt sick whenever she considered what might have happened to Will, and her heart broke for his brother and mom.

Maybe, like the police said, he really was lost and just waiting to be found.

Chapter Text

That night, Lisa was sitting on her bed on the phone to Nancy, “I just don’t understand why you want me to go.”

“Because I don’t want to go by myself!” Nancy replied pleadingly.

“I’m already going to the assembly for Will,” Lisa answered. “You’ll be fine by yourself. Steve’ll be there, obviously.”

“We’ll go after the assembly. Please?”

“Nancy…”

“Lisa, it’s not rocket science. Just tell your Mom you’re gonna stay at my place afterwards- no, tell her we’re studying, and then having a sleepover.”

“Studying, Nancy, really?” Lisa closed her eyes wearily.

“She’ll believe it! You can spend the night at mine, okay? Bring your stuff for school tomorrow.”

“What about Barb?”

“Well, I figured I’d asked you first, and if you said you were going, she’d be more likely to agree to come too.”

“That’s a long shot, Nance. You know Barb doesn’t like parties.”

“I’m gonna call her next, please say you’ll go,” Nancy all but begged.

Lisa groaned but reluctantly agreed, “fine, but only after the assembly. And the first sign of you hooking up with Steve and leaving us with Tommy and Carol, we’re leaving.”

“Fine, fine! I’ll see you later, come over for seven.”

—

After hanging up, Lisa stood and rooted through her closet for something to wear. After deciding on her new pair of denim jeans and a white sweater, she changed and told her mom she was going to Nancy’s before the assembly for dinner and they were having a sleepover afterwards. Thankfully without many questions, once she mentioned she was going with two of her ‘sensible’ friends, Mrs Henderson agreed.

Lisa put on a little bit of makeup and pulled the top half of her curly brown hair into a scrunchie, then she gave herself a long-suffering glare in the mirror. Nancy would owe her big time for this.

At seven o'clock, she arrived at the Wheelers and along with Nancy, helped Mrs Wheeler to finish preparing dinner.

“Have you done your homework?” she asked Dustin who was already at the table.

He narrowed his eyes, “my friend is missing and you’re asking if my homework is done.”

“It’s a completely reasonable question, Mr Henderson,” Mr Wheeler said monotonously over his newspaper.

“Mom’s worried, okay? Just keep up with your school work. Slacking off won’t help Will,” Lisa said quietly to Dustin who rolled his eyes.

“Whatever. But yes my homework is done, thanks, Mom.”

Lisa sat down next to Nancy, and after thanking Mrs Wheeler for the food, Lisa began to eat but noticed the three boys were just pushing their food around their plates.

“Something wrong with the meatloaf?” Mrs Wheeler asked and Lisa glared at Dustin, silently telling him to watch his manners.

“Oh, no, I just had two bologna sandwiches for lunch…I don’t know why,” he said with a sweet, toothy smile to Mrs Wheeler.

“Me too,” Lucas said.

Lisa shared a wary look with Nancy but continued with the food while Nancy straightened up, “it’s delicious, Mommy.”

“Thank you, sweetie,” her mother replied with a smile.

“So, there’s this…special assembly thing tonight for Will at the school field,” Nancy said.

Nancy nudged Lisa under the table and she cleared her throat, “uh, yeah. Barb is driving us. A few of us are gonna go for food afterwards.”

“Why am I just hearing about this assembly?” Mrs Wheeler asked, confused.

“I thought you knew?” Nancy asked weakly.

“It was only announced in school this morning,” Lisa added.

“I told you, I don’t want you out after dark until Will is found. Lisa, I’m sure your mother feels the same-”

“It’d be super weird if we weren’t there, Mom. I mean, everyone’s going,” Nancy, wearing her best doe eyes.

Mrs Wheeler looked between the two girls and sighed, “okay, just…be back by ten.”

Nancy nodded and gave Lisa a small triumphant smile, but Mrs Wheeler wasn’t finished yet, “why don’t you take the boys, too?”

Before either of them could protest, the boys all shouted, “NO!”

After a momentary silence, in which the boys shook their heads fiercely, Mrs Wheeler looked at them in confusion, “don’t you think you should be there? For Will?”

Lisa watched Mike’s eyes go wide at something and he choked on his glass of milk in shock.

Before anyone could look around for the cause of his outburst, Dustin slapped the table abruptly, startling them all and making little Holly Wheeler gasp.

“Sorry. Spasm.” His weak excuse caused Lisa to narrow her eyes at him and he pulled a face back at her.

“It’s okay, Holly. It’s just a loud noise,” Mrs Wheeler said to her youngest child, whose bottom lip was now trembling.

Lisa looked across the table and fixed Dustin with a glare, “nice.”

Dustin at least had the good sense to look ashamed.

The rest of dinner was uneventful, and just as Lisa and Nancy had finished freshening up, the sound of a car horn outside signalled for them to go.

After a quick look in the mirror, Lisa tucked a stray curl into a hair pin, tightened her scrunchie and then pulled her jacket over her sweater. She ducked into the backseat behind Nancy, and Barb who was driving.

“If they bring out a Ouija board, I’m leaving,” Barb muttered over the low music playing on the radio as they drove.

Nancy sighed loudly, “Barb, I really don’t think communicating with the dead is on the agenda.”

“What is on the agenda after the assembly, Nancy?” Lisa asked.

Nancy shrugged, “I don’t really know. Talking, I guess?”

“Oh, wonderful,” Barb scowled as she drove down a street of large houses. “And, tell me, what would those thick-skulled morons have to talk about? Apart from themselves, that is.”

“Barb, please,” Nancy groaned, “at least try to get along. And Lisa, you too, if you could go one night without looking like you want to explode at Steve, Tommy or Carol, that would be great.”

“Fine, fine,” Lisa said, holding her hands up in surrender, and then she added halfheartedly, trying to reign in the sarcasm, “I’m sure it’ll be fun.”

After the half-hour assembly at the school for Will, the girls were back in the car and following Nancy’s directions through a suburb of large houses.

“Oh, Barb, pull over here!” Nancy said suddenly and Barb looked at her as if she’d grown another head. “What?”

“Pull over!” Nancy repeated, nervous energy radiating off her.

“What are we doing here?” Barb asked after she pulled in near the curb.

“Yeah, his house is three blocks from here,” Lisa pointed out and Barb looked at her in surprise.

Lisa waved a hand dismissively, “I’ve been there before, years ago.”

Barb shrugged as if nothing could really phase her at this point, and then turned back to Nancy, “well?”

“We can’t park in the driveway,” Nancy said.

Barb scoffed, “are you serious?”

“Yeah, the neighbours might see!”

Barb glared out of the windscreen, “this is so stupid. I’m just gonna drop you guys off-”

“Calm down, Barb. Come on. You promised that you’d go, you’re coming. We’re gonna have a great time! Right, Lisa?”

Lisa rested her chin on the back of Nancy’s seat and looked at Barb, “I’ll be there with you, don’t worry.”

Barb let out a long-suffering sigh, “Nancy, he just wants to get in your pants.”

Lisa blanched and busied herself with fixing her smudged brown eyeliner in the rearview mirror.

“No, he doesn’t!”

“Nance…seriously. He invited you to his house.”

“He invited you guys too!” Nancy protested.

Barb raised her eyebrows, “I was invited was I? You didn’t beg him to let me come along?”

Nancy opened her mouth and closed it again, and Barb continued, “see? I seriously doubt he wants to get into my pants. Lisa, well, that’s up for debate but-”

“Jesus, Barb. Don’t drag me into this,” Lisa scowled.

Barb stopped laughing then and gave Nancy a pointed look, “okay, let me reiterate, he invited you to his house while his parents aren’t home.”

“Tommy H. and Carol are gonna be there-”

“Tommy H. and Carol have been having sex since, like, seventh grade. It’ll probably just be, like, a big orgy.”

Lisa snorted and Barb’s words while Nancy scowled, “gross.”

Lisa and Barb shared an amused look in the mirror and then Nancy pulled off her sweater to reveal a much smaller top underneath.

Lisa leaned over the seat and jokingly tugged at the lacy strap that stuck out from under the collar, “Nance, is that a new bra?”

Nancy flushed, “what? No!”

Lisa and Barb laughed as they climbed out of the car, and they walked to the large Harrington residence, where Lisa spotted the tire swing that was still hanging in from the oak tree in the front garden. Pushing the memory from her mind she followed the others to the front door.

Steve opened the double front doors with a flourish and grinned at them, “hello, ladies.”

—

Within the hour they were all sitting on the poolside garden chairs while Tommy and Carol messed around, trying to push each other into the lit-up pool.

Barb sat silently seething while Lisa sat on the chair next to her, a knee to her chest as she tied and untied the laces on her shoe to occupy herself. Who knew that there were so many ways to tie a bow?

Steve punctured a hole in his beer can and drank it all in one go while Nancy watched.

“Is that supposed to impress me?” she asked as he stuck a cigarette in his mouth.

“You’re not?”

She giggled in a very un-Nancy-like manner, “you are a cliché, you do realise that?”

“You are a cliché,” Steve retorted, lighting his cigarette.

Then he looked over Nancy’s shoulder, “what do you think, Henderson? D’you think I’m a cliché?”

Lisa startled at being acknowledged and straightened up, “why do you care what I think?”

He shrugged nonchalantly, taking a drag from his cigarette, “call it morbid curiosity.”

Lisa decided to humour him and relaxed back into her chair, crossing both her arms and legs, holding his gaze, “if, by cliché, you mean sitting at a so-called party in your stupidly big house, almost as big as your own ego, chugging shitty beer to impress a girl whose friends you only invited for brownie points when you actually couldn’t care less about them? Then, yeah, I’d consider you a cliché.”

Barb stifled a laugh, her first smile all night.

Steve even smirked and raised his fresh can in salute to Lisa, “I’ll take it, Henderson.”

Lisa raised her own can, the one she’d been nursing all evening, smiling as fakely as she could at him.

Nancy glared pointedly at Lisa over her shoulder, and Lisa just shrugged at her.

“So, party girl, why don’t you show us how it’s done?” Steve held a can out to Nancy.

She took it eagerly, even having barely finished downing her other one, and Lisa and Barb shared a look.

“You’ve gotta make a little hole right in the bottom-”

“I got it,” Nancy interrupted him.

Tommy laughed, “she’s smart, you douche!”

He flattened an empty can against his head and threw it in Lisa and Barb’s direction and missed by a longshot.

Lisa sighed in fake-sympathy, “at least you’re not hoping for a football scholarship in the future, Tommy.”

He flipped her off while Barb smirked at Tommy’s expense.

Then, Nancy began to chug the beer while the others chanted, and Lisa and Barb watched on in silence. Barb was really taking the whole thing to heart, shaking her head in a mixture of disappointment and disbelief.

“Barb, Lisa, you wanna try?” Nancy asked, completely oblivious to how her friend was feeling.

“No, thanks,” Barb answered while Lisa shook her head.

“Come on, try it!”

“No, I don’t want to,” Barb repeated uncomfortably.

“Henderson will give it a try, won’t you Lisa?” Steve said, holding up an unopened can in his hand.

“One beer is enough for me. We’ve got school tomorrow,” Lisa replied. She wasn’t judging Nancy simply for drinking, but rather how fast and how much she was drinking to seemingly fit in with the others.

“‘We’ve got school tomorrow!’” Carol repeated mockingly.

“Guys, come on, just give it a try!” Nancy pleaded.

Barb snapped, “you know what? Fine.”

Barb stood up and tried to pierce the can with the knife but it slipped and cut her hand instead, and then she dropped the can in shock and clutched her bleeding hand.

“Ew, gnarly!” Tommy jeered.

Lisa stood up quickly and took Barb’s wrist gently in her hands, “are you okay?”

Lisa could see the tears brimming in her eyes and Nancy stepped closer, her cheeks flushed with the effects of how quickly she’d been drinking, having never drank more than a couple of glasses of wine during Christmas break.

“Barb, you’re bleeding.”

“I’m fine!” Barb was furious and Lisa led her to the house.

Steve followed, “hey, wait!”

Barb scowled and Lisa turned to him as he rooted around in the kitchen.

“Here,” he handed her a small red first aid box, “the bathroom is the third door-”

“On the left. Yeah, I remember,” Lisa said, taking the box from him and leading Barb through the house and to the bathroom.

She was about to follow her friend in to help but Barb turned around, “could you give me a minute? I just need to be alone for a bit. Thanks though, Lisa, seriously.”

Lisa nodded in understanding, and walked back out to the pool. She heard shrieking as soon as she stepped outside and saw the other four in the pool, fully dressed and splashing around.

“Lisa, hey!” Steve grinned at her, swimming over and leaning his elbows on the side of the pool, “come on in!”

She sat on a chair opposite him, “it’s November, Harrington.”

“Aw come on!” he said, nudging the toe of her converse with his knuckles. “You used to love this pool.”

She raised her eyebrows at him, really not in the mood for a trip down memory lane as though nothing had happened between them, “yeah, when I was twelve. A lot has changed since then, Steve. You made sure of that.”

His face fell and his eyes searched her face for a moment before he nodded curtly and turned to swim back to the others.

Lisa looked away, cursing herself for being in this position again, in this house, with this boy.

Of all the boys in their school that Nancy could have had a crush on, why did it have to be Steve Harrington?

Chapter Text

Barb came back outside a while later after cleaning up her hand, just as the others were climbing out of the pool. They towelled themselves off, laughing and messing around, giddy after too many beers.

Tommy and Carol headed inside, as did Nancy with a towel wrapped around her shoulders.

Steve turned around to them before stepping through the patio door, “you guys wanna come in and sit down? It’s getting cold out.”

Lisa nodded and followed him in with Barb right behind her. They followed Nancy until they realised she was heading to the stairs, hurrying after Steve who was walking up to the next floor.

“Nance?” Lisa called her but Nancy didn’t turn around.

Barb, who was beyond pissed, called her again, “Nancy!”

Nancy turned around on the stairs to look down at them, looking awkwardly between them and where Steve had gone.

“Where are you going?” Barb asked her.

“Nowhere! Just…upstairs to- to change,” Nancy replied sheepishly. “I fell in the pool.”

Barb just stared at her in disbelief and Lisa felt uncomfortable, the tension between her two friends that had been growing all night was finally coming to a head.

“Why don’t you guys go ahead and go home? I’ll just…I’ll get a ride or something.”

“With who, Nance? They’ve all been drinking, a lot, they’re not gonna be able to drive you anywhere,” Lisa tried to reason with her best friend.

Nancy shrugged, “guys, I’m fine. Seriously.”

Lisa and Barb shared a quick glance, and Barb gritted her teeth, “Nancy this isn’t you.”

“I’m fine,” Nancy replied more fiercely this time, “just go ahead and go home, okay?”

“I was supposed to be staying at yours, Nancy,” Lisa reminded her.

Nancy groaned, “can’t you just stay at Barb’s?”

Lisa was getting really annoyed, “Barb lives on the opposite end of town, and all my stuff is at yours for school tomorrow. Plus my car is parked in your driveway.”

Nancy shuffled awkwardly on the stairs, “I’ll drive your car and bring your bag in for you, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.” And with that, she hurried upstairs.

Lisa and Barb shared an incredulous look. “Well, I think we can both agree that we’re not going to leave her here alone.”

Barb agreed, “yeah, come on let's go back outside.”

They sat in bewildered silence at the pool, Barb on the diving board with her feet in the water, and Lisa on a sun lounger with her knees pulled up to her chest.

“She’ll get over it, won’t she? This phase of doing everything to impress Steve?” Barb asked and Lisa shrugged, a cold wind making her shiver slightly.

“Hopefully. I mean, he obviously likes her for a reason. I don’t know why she’s trying to act differently now.”

“It’s pathetic,” Barb scowled, and then her face softened. “You used to be friends with Steve, right? You knew where he lived and there’s clearly some history there.”

“That obvious, huh?”

“To those of us that pay attention,” Barb answered sympathetically.

Lisa sighed, “we were best friends in middle school, and he dropped me as soon as he got popular. I found out that we weren’t friends anymore the hard way. First day of freshman year.”

“I’m sorry,” Barb said solemnly.

“Yeah, well, shit happens,” Lisa said with a grimace, “I just never exactly planned on him coming back into my life. I didn’t want him to. I don’t want him to.”

Barb nodded in understanding and Lisa stood up, “I’m gonna get some water, do you want some?”

Barb shook her head, “no, I’m fine, thanks.”

“By the way, if you wanna drive back home, you should. I’ll wait for Nancy and she and I can walk home together,” Lisa told her.

Barb nodded, “yeah, okay. I’ll think about it.”

Lisa walked inside, closing the patio door over to keep the cold out and poured herself a glass of water.

She found herself wandering around the first floor of the house, looking at the framed photographs on the wall of a young Steve in formalwear with his parents, both good-looking and well-dressed people with good reputations in Hawkins.

She’d been in this house many times, seen these pictures before, but now she felt like a stranger. She realised that that’s exactly what she was now, a stranger.

Looking around to make sure no one was around, Lisa skimmed her fingertips along the perfectly polished wooden drawer console in the hallway under the stairs, coming to a stop at a row of photo albums.

One that looked like it had been recently looked at, its spine jutting out slightly from the rest, had the years 1975-1980 engraved on the cover. After a moment’s hesitation, Lisa opened it and saw a few photographs of Steve as a kid with his parents at various business events, and there were another few of him with them on vacation.

Lisa knew that Steve had grown estranged from his parents as he’d gotten older. His dad was a successful businessman, and his mother was a popular socialite, and as time went on, they had less time for him. Eventually a nanny had been brought in to look after him from the age of eight, and she was who Lisa saw whenever she was at Steve’s house when they were kids.

Flipping through the photos, Lisa’s hand stilled as she flipped to a photo from the summer of 1979 with a thirteen-year-old Steve sitting in the tire swing with a twelve-year-old Lisa standing up on it behind him and holding onto the rope, both of them grinning broad smiles for the photo.

Steve had worn braces on his teeth back then, and Lisa’s hair had been in two braids with a bow hairband on her head.

There were a lot more photos of them, spanning a number of pages in the album, and the pages were worn as though they’d been looked through a lot since the first ones were taken five years ago. Lisa felt her eyes fill with tears and she shut the album quickly and put it back where she found it, and then she hurried through the kitchen and to the patio door.

“Barb, honestly you should go ahead home-” she said as she pulled the door closed behind her, but Barb wasn’t sitting at the pool anymore.

“Barb?” Lisa looked around but couldn’t see her anywhere.

Lisa walked back inside and checked the bathroom, which was empty, and Barb wasn’t in any of the other rooms downstairs, and she definitely wasn’t upstairs because Lisa would’ve seen her come in.

She wondered if Barb had taken her suggestion onboard and gone home, but she didn’t think she would’ve left without saying goodbye.

She checked her watch, and let out a sigh, realising that they were already half an hour past their curfew, and they’d be even later now that they had to walk back to the Wheelers’ house.

Reluctantly, she walked upstairs to where she knew Steve’s room was, and sure enough it still had the faded, ‘S’ on the door.

She took a deep breath and knocked loudly.

“Go away, Tommy! We’re busy,” Steve yelled from inside the closed door.

“Nancy, it’s Lisa. I need you to-”

The door was flung open and a shirtless Steve stood in the doorway looking down at her in surprise, “Lisa? What’s up?”

Averting her gaze, and ignoring him, she looked past his arm and saw Nancy pulling her sweater back on, looking mortified.

“Thanks but no thanks for the interruption, Lisa,” Steve muttered, crossing his arms over his bare chest.

Lisa glared at him coldly, “to be honest, Steve, I couldn’t give less of a shit about you not getting laid tonight.”

She turned her attention to her friend, “Nancy, we’re going.”

Nancy stepped up next to Steve in the doorway, “what? I told you guys to go ahead.”

Lisa bit back her irritation at Nancy, “Yeah, well, I told Barb to go ahead home and she obviously went ahead. So I’m not walking home alone, so we’re leaving now.”

“She left without you? That was a bit shitty of her,” Steve said with a frown.

Lisa gritted her teeth, “don’t get me started on a conversation about people being shitty, Harrington. Besides, I told her to go ahead because she was so unhappy.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.” She gave him a withering look and then turned it on Nancy, “we’re leaving, now. I’m not asking.”

Nancy bit her lip, clearly ashamed, “yeah, just let me get my jacket.”

She pushed past both Steve and Lisa and went downstairs in a hurry, while Steve walked back into his room to grab a sweater, leaving the door open behind him as he went, “we didn’t, like, if you were wondering, she, uh- she was drunker than me, so we didn’t do-”

“Save it,” she snapped, crossing her arms and turning her back on him. “I really don’t want to know what you did or didn’t do.”

“Alright, Henderson, what’s your deal? Why do you hate me so much?”

“Excuse me?”

The abruptness of the question caught her completely off guard and she turned back around to face him. Thankfully, he was clothed this time.

“You act like I’m the- the biggest fucking douchebag you’ve ever met,” he said, looking genuinely hurt as he stood in front of her.

She stared at him in disbelief, “seriously? You want to talk about this now?”

“If not now, then when?” he answered, his eyebrows raised.

She shook her head, but as she turned away he gently pulled her to a stop by the wrist, “Lise, please.”

Him using the nickname he used to call her broke her heart in two. She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked back up at him as he dropped her wrist.

“You hurt me, Steve. You really hurt me,” she told him in a whisper, not trusting her voice to not tremble if she spoke aloud.

Steve stared at her, “I’m sorry, I was such an idiot.”

Lisa bit her lip, “you were my favourite person back then, you know. And then you dropped me, as if I meant nothing. Saying sorry just isn’t enough.”

Steve ran a hand through his hair, looking pained, “is there anything I can do? To make it better? I’ll do anything-”

“Don’t, Steve,” she said, not looking at him as she shook her head.

“Lisa, please. I miss y-”

“Lisa, I found my jacket,” Nancy called from downstairs.

Without looking at Steve, Lisa walked away with tears in her eyes and he slowly followed her back down to say goodbye to Nancy.

“Want me to walk you home?” Steve asked.

“We’ll be fine,” Lisa answered firmly.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” Nancy said, and as she kissed him Lisa walked out the front door.

The walk back was mostly silent as the two girls made their way back to the Wheelers’ house, in the dark.

Quietly opening the door, they snuck in, but the lights came on and they jumped.

“Jesus, you scared me!” Nancy whispered to her mom.

Mrs Wheeler was furious, “oh, I scared you?”

“I know, I should’ve called-” Nancy began.

Mrs Wheeler wasn’t having any excuses, “where have you been? We agreed on ten o’clock.”

Nancy bit her lip before replying, “after the assembly, we got food and, um- we had to walk back so we were later than I thought. I didn’t think it’d be a big deal.”

“You didn’t think to call and let me know? With everything that’s been going on? Especially when I have the responsibility of looking after someone else’s child?” Mrs Wheeler looked at Lisa sternly, “I have half a mind to drop you home right now Lisa and talk to your mother.”

“Mom, no- just…” Nancy trailed off.

Lisa spoke up, “we didn’t realise how late it was. We should’ve planned to walk earlier, sorry Mrs Wheeler.”

“Sorry, Mom,” Nancy said, and then she turned on her heel to walk up the stairs until her mother caught her by the jacket, “whose sweater is that?”

“Steve’s,” Nancy replied quietly.

Mrs Wheeler looked from her daughter, to Lisa, and back to Nancy.

“Steve’s,” she repeated, “so is Steve your boyfriend now?”

“Goodnight, Mrs Wheeler,” Lisa mumbled before quickly running up the stairs.

She pulled her pyjamas out of the overnight bag she’d brought, and was sitting on the bed taking her makeup off when Nancy came in.

She closed the door and then flopped down on one side of the bed.

They were quiet for a moment, and then Lisa spoke, “you can talk about it, if you want. If something happened with Steve. I’m sorry I interrupted…well, whatever.”

“We don’t have to talk if you’re mad at me.”

“I am mad at you, but you can still talk to me if you want,” Lisa told her as she got under the comforter.

Nancy turned her head to look at Lisa and let out a long breath, “nothing happened. Not really. We were just kissing and…took our shirts off. But I-I drank too much so we’d, um, slowed down before you’d even knocked on the door.”

Lisa nodded but didn’t say anything.

“I think it was just bad timing anyway. I knew you and Barb were pissed at me so I was distracted.”

“You were a bit of a jerk tonight,” Lisa told her honestly.

Nancy nodded, getting up to change into her pyjamas, “I know, I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

Lisa lay down on the bed facing Nancy, “if he makes you happy, that’s what matters. But don’t change yourself for him. You don’t need to.”

“Thanks, Lisa,” Nancy said and then she sighed as she settled under the comforter and lay down to face Lisa. “Barb is really pissed at me isn’t she?”

“Yeah, she is. But she’ll be fine. I just wish she’d said something to me before leaving, but she probably just wanted to get home. We can talk to her tomorrow and clear the air.”

“Okay,” Nancy whispered, unconvinced.

“Just…try not to worry too much, okay?”

Nancy nodded, “I’ll try.”

Chapter Text

They didn’t see Barb in homeroom the following morning, and as Lisa and Nancy walked through the cafeteria at lunchtime, they didn’t see her then either.

“Hey, let’s sit over here,” Nancy said, nodding her head to where Steve was sitting with Tommy and Carol.

“Nancy, seriously?” Lisa gave her a look of disbelief.

“They might’ve seen Barb!” Nancy reasoned. “It’s better than sitting by ourselves and wondering where she is.”

Lisa rolled her eyes but followed her, sitting opposite Nancy next to Carol, who was making the boys inspect something on her foot.

“Look at this, it’s totally frostbite,” Carol complained.

“It’s a heated pool!” Tommy said with his mouth full, crumbs from his sandwich landing back on his tray.

“Well, if it’s not frostbite then what is it?” Carol demanded, her foot still up on the table.

Steve blanched, “ugh, I don’t care what it is, it’s disgusting. Take it off the table, we’re eating here.”

He looked up to give them a smile of acknowledgement as they sat down, and Lisa just looked away and busied herself with her tray of food.

“Hey, Tommy,” Nancy said. “When you left last night, did you see Barb?”

“What?” he answered with a smirk.

“Barbara,” Lisa said sharply, “our friend. She’s not here today.”

Tommy looked down the table at her, “I seriously have no idea who you’re talking about.”

Carol snickered and then Tommy joined in.

Lisa opened her mouth to snap at them, but Steve spoke up, “come on. Don’t be an ass, man. Did you see her leave last night or not?”

Tommy rolled his eyes, “no, she was gone when we left.”

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Steve said to Lisa and Nancy with a half shrug. “She’s probably just skipping or something.”

The two girls shared a look, because they knew that Barb would never skip school.

Not unless something was really, really wrong.

—

After school, Lisa sat on the wall while Nancy called Barb’s house from the payphone.

“Is it ringing?” Lisa asked, holding the phonebook they’d borrowed from the front office.

Nancy fidgeted anxiously, “come on, come on, come on…”

Mrs Holland picked up, and the call confirmed their worst fears: Barb hadn’t come home the night before, and her mother hadn’t seen her that morning either.

“Look, let's try not to panic just yet, I’m sure there’s a perfectly logical explanation for all this,” Lisa said and Nancy nodded.

Lisa glanced up and saw Jonathan leaving school and she told Nancy she’d catch up with her in a few minutes.

“Jonathan!”

“Lisa, hey,” he said, stopping on the footpath until she caught up with him and they walked together to the parking lot.

“How are you holding up? I think my mom was going to drop a lasagna over this afternoon,” she told him. “She’s trying to coordinate with Karen Wheeler so they don’t bombard you with casseroles.”

He gave a small smile, “that’s kind of her. I’m okay, worried sick but I’m…What the hell?”

Lisa looked up and followed Jonathan’s gaze to where Steve, Tommy and Carol, and another girl from junior year were leaning on his car.

“Hey, man,” Steve said with an unreadable look on his face, straightening to his full height to look down at Jonathan.

“What’s going on?” Jonathan asked warily.

“Nicole here was, uh, telling us about your work,” Steve replied, nodding to the redhead next to him.

“We’ve heard great things,” Carol said sarcastically.

“Yeah, sounds cool,” Tommy taunted.

“And we’d just love to take a look. You know, as…connoisseurs of art,” Steve said plainly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jonathan said quickly, and he tried to make a move for his car but Tommy pushed him back roughly and grabbed his bag.

“Harrington! What the hell is going on here?” Lisa demanded, coming up just behind Jonathan who had practically run across the parking lot.

“You should probably leave, Henderson,” Steve said curtly, avoiding Lisa’s eye completely.

“Do not tell me what to do,” Lisa snapped.

“Please, just give me my bag,” Jonathan said, and Lisa looked over her shoulder to see Tommy throwing Jonathan’s backpack around.

Steve caught it and sneered at Jonathan, acting like a completely different person from the night before. The person who had apologised to her, asked if there was anything he could do to make things right between them…that boy was nowhere to be seen right now.

He opened the bag and rummaged around inside, “man, he is totally trembling. He must really have something to hide. Oh! Here we go.”

Steve pulled a set of photographs from the bag and the others leaned over to have a look.

“These aren’t creepy at all,” Carol commented, pursing her lips.

Jonathan visibly deflated and Lisa stepped up next to him, “what is it, Jonathan? I don’t understand.”

“Let me help you understand, Henderson,” Steve said harshly, walking over and shoving the photographs into her hands.

Lisa’s heart sank when she saw them, all taken from the forest outside Steve’s backyard. They were from the night before, photos of them sitting by the pool, drinking beer, a photo of Barb sitting on the diving board of the pool, clearly after Lisa had gone inside to get a drink. The last one made Lisa’s jaw drop, because it was a photograph of Nancy in Steve’s bedroom with her sweater off.

Jonathan was visibly shaken, “I was looking for my brother-”

“No. No, this is called stalking,” Steve said to Jonathan with a disgusted expression.

Then he looked down at Lisa again, brows raised expectantly, “well? What do you think? Is this the kind of trash you really want to associate yourself with, Lisa?”

Lisa shoved the photos back into Steve’s chest and pushed him back a step, “who the hell are you being right now?”

“Who the hell am I? Did you not look at the photographs?” Steve was furious. “Did you not see that this creep took photographs of your best friend?”

“I did, and I’m asking you why you have to be such an asshole without waiting for a goddamn explanation!” she shouted at him.

Steve narrowed his eyes and his expression flipped between hurt and anger. She knew this wasn’t his fault but she had to blame him, because this couldn’t be real.

Jonathan wasn’t like that, he couldn’t be like that.

Her eyes had filled with tears, and she met his dark eyes which had softened slightly at her visible upset, “I-”

Her hand was still pressing the photographs to Steve’s chest, and she took a step back, shaking her head, “there’s an explanation for this. There has to be. Jonathan?”

She looked at her friend, but he had nothing to say.

“Jonathan?” Lisa asked again, pleading with him for an explanation.

He wouldn’t meet her gaze, and then Nancy showed up after seeing the commotion from across the parking lot.

“What’s going on?” she asked, taking in Lisa’s expression.

“Ah, here’s the starring lady!” Tommy exclaimed.

“Lisa, what’s wrong?” Nancy asked, standing next to her, but Lisa was staring at Jonathan, and didn’t answer.

Steve had his eyes on Lisa and without looking away from her, he handed the photographs over to Nancy, “take a look for yourself, Nancy.”

“This creep was spying on us last night,” Carol announced, “he was probably gonna save this one for later.” She tapped a manicured fingernail on the photograph of Nancy in her bra.

“See you can tell he knows it was wrong, but…that’s the thing about perverts. It’s hardwired into ‘em.” Steve walked over to Jonathan and tugged on his collar. “You know, they just can’t help themselves.”

He tore the photographs up and then continued, “so, we’ll just have to take away his toy.”

“Steve…” Nancy protested.

“No, please, not the camera,” Jonathan pleaded with him.

“Don’t, Steve, just leave it alone. You’ve made your point,” Lisa tried to reason and Steve looked from her and then back to Jonathan with narrowed eyes.

He held out the camera, “alright, here you go, man.”

But just as Jonathan reached out to take it, Steve let it fall to the ground, glass and plastic shattering on the concrete.

Steve turned on his heel and stalked away, the others laughing loudly behind him. Lisa and Nancy stood in a stunned silence as Jonathan bent down to pick up the bits of the camera.

Lisa crouched next to him, picking up the shattered lens while Nancy snatched up a few bits of a torn photograph and backed away quickly.

Before catching up with Steve, Nancy turned around, “are you coming Lisa?”

“No,” Lisa replied, shaking her head. “See you tomorrow?”

Nancy gave her a sad smile and nodded, then continued on her way.

After picking up as much of the camera as they could, Lisa wrapped the shards in a tissue and handed it over.

“It was wrong what you did, really wrong,” she said to him sharply, still in disbelief.

He kept his head low, “I know. I wasn’t thinking.”

“No, you weren’t. What were you even doing out there?” Lisa asked as they stood up, having gathered what they could of the shattered camera.

“I was in the woods, looking for Will. I swear. I brought my camera, just in case, and then I heard- I don’t know- screaming or something. But it was just you guys messing around at the pool. I don’t know why I took those pictures. I really don’t.” He hung his head in shame.

“You need to apologise to Nancy. This was a total invasion of privacy.”

He nodded, “I know, and I will.”

She nodded before shouldering her backpack, “I’m sorry about your camera, I know how much you loved it.”

“Thanks, Lisa.”

“I’ve gotta go. See you tomorrow.” She walked to her own car, her mind spinning with everything that was going on.

That evening, Lisa was doing her homework at the kitchen table when the phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Lisa? I’m sorry, I know it’s late.”

“Nancy? You okay, you know, after earlier?” Lisa replied.

“Um, fine, it’s- it’s not about that…I…”

Lisa was surprised at hearing her friend’s tearful voice. “What is it?”

“I, um, I found Barb’s car where she parked it last night. She didn’t- she didn’t drive home, Lisa,” Nancy said, choking up slightly.

“Oh, Jesus,” Lisa said, feeling sick. “Have you told anyone?”

“I told Mom, she’s just called Mr and Mrs Holland, I think they’re gonna come over so I can tell them what I know, and then I guess they’ll go to the police,” Nancy replied.

“Okay, good, the police will find her. They’re looking for Will so they’ll know what they’re doing.”

“I really hope you’re right,” Nancy said.

—

About an hour later, Lisa was just finishing her homework when the front door opened and shut again.

“Dustin, is that you? Mom’s at her book club so I was just gonna put on some pizza if you want some?” she called out, but she got no answer.

“Dustin?” she called again, putting down her pen.

When she once again got no answer, she stood up from the table, and upon consideration of all the awful stories she’d read about in the papers and seen on TV, she picked up the scissors from the countertop before walking out into the hall.

She let out a sigh of relief when she saw Dustin standing just inside the door, “Jesus, Dustin, you scared me.”

He was standing there, staring into space, so she put down the scissors and walked over to him.

To her dismay, she saw that he was crying and she put her hand on his shoulder, leaning down a bit to look him in the eyes, “hey, buddy, what is it? What happened?”

He was shaking all over, his face swollen and wet with tears. She could just barely hear him when he answered, “they found him. They found Will.”

Lisa froze, her hand tightening on his shoulder, “they found him?”

Dustin looked up at her, “they found his body, Lisa. At the quarry.”

Feeling as though the world had tilted beneath her feet, Lisa pulled Dustin into a tight hug as he cried against her shoulder.

Lisa’s own tears fell down her cheeks, but all she could do was stare ahead, waiting for the phone to ring again, to say it was a mistake.

Because there was no way, no way, that Will Byers was dead.

Their mom got home a short while later, and Lisa had to tell her because Dustin couldn’t speak. They both spent the rest of the evening comforting a devastated Dustin, and Lisa tried her best to keep her own tears to a minimum for his sake.

They also called the Wheelers’ and Sinclairs’, and no one had any idea what to do next. Lisa desperately wanted to call Jonathan, offer both her condolences and her help in anything he or Joyce needed, but she knew he was probably only finding out the news as they had.

—

The following morning, Lisa and Nancy were sitting in English class, but not really paying attention. The mood of the school population was sombre and shocked, as if no one really knew how to deal with the news of Will’s body being found.

It took everything in Lisa’s power to not cry, but she had to dab her eyes with her sleeve to catch the tears that threatened to spill over.

The door of the classroom opened, “Nancy Wheeler and Lisa Henderson?”

They looked over to see the school principal standing in the doorway, “could you both come with me, please?”

They shared a quick glance before packing up their things and leaving the classroom.

Nancy had told her more from her evening of looking around Steve’s street, that after finding Barb’s car, she’d gone into the woods behind the backyard and had seen someone else there. What Lisa struggled to get her head wrapped around was that Nancy said it wasn’t a normal person, it looked like it didn’t have a face.

The description had sent a chill down Lisa’s spine and while she really wanted to believe her friend, the idea of an extremely tall person with no face just walking around Hawkins was a bit far-fetched. Stuff like that was for Halloween movies, not for Hawkins.

“Do you think this is about Barb?” Lisa asked quietly as they walked several feet behind the principal as she led them to the cafeteria.

Nancy bit her lip anxiously, “possibly. Steve doesn’t want us to bring up the beers to the cops in case it gets him in trouble.”

“Is he serious? Our friend is missing and he’s worried about getting in trouble?”

“That’s what I said,” Nancy scowled. “We’re in a fight over it.”

In the cafeteria, two cops sat waiting for them, along with Mrs Henderson and Mrs Wheeler. The girls sat between their mothers and waited for the cops to start asking questions.

Lisa let Nancy do the talking, and only answered the basic questions she was asked. She watched the growing scepticism on the cops’ faces as Nancy told them about seeing what might have been a ‘bear’ in the backyard of Steve’s house, changing her story from the tall person with no face that she’d told Lisa about.

“Miss Henderson, when was the last time you saw Barb?

“I went inside to get a glass of water, and I was inside for just a few minutes, and when I came back outside she was gone.”

“And you didn’t see her leave?”

“No, I was in the kitchen and hallway so I would’ve seen her leave through the house, but I don’t know, she could’ve used the back gate. I told her to go home, that Nancy and I would walk, but I don’t think she would’ve left without saying anything.”

They scribbled a few things down in their respective notepads.

“And do you corroborate Miss Wheeler's theory about this, er- bear?”

“I didn’t go back to the house yesterday, so I don’t know what Nancy saw,” she said honestly. “But I know that Barb wouldn’t run away, or ditch school. Something else has happened, I know it.”

After an intense hour of questioning, Lisa and Nancy were allowed to leave, and they didn’t get a chance to speak to each other as they were herded to the parking lot by their respective mothers.

“I just don’t understand, sweetie, why didn’t you just tell me you were going to a party?” Mrs Henderson said on the way home. “I could’ve picked you girls up!”

“It wasn’t even a party, mom, it was just us girls, and Steve Harrington and his stupid friends,” Lisa grumbled, staring out the window as her mom drove them home.

“Steve, as in little Steve?”

“He’s like, six-foot now, Mom,” Lisa grumbled.

“Oh, gosh! Is he handsome-?”

“Yes, wow, puberty sure is a magical thing,” Lisa swiftly interrupted what was only going to be an embarrassing conversation. “And no, before you ask, we’re not friends again.”

Mrs Henderson tutted, “well that’s just a darn shame, you used to get along so well! And he was always so polite when he was over at our house. But anyway, from now on I don’t want you keeping secrets, okay? It’s not a good example to set for your brother.”

Lisa stayed silent, knowing full well that Dustin and his friends weren’t as innocent as they seemed.

In fact, she was sure they were keeping secrets too. She wondered if they’d joined a cult, which appeared to be all the rage these days.

When they got home, Lisa went to her room and pulled out her biology test from that morning. She’d gotten a lower mark than she would usually get which didn’t do anything for her already-low mood. She decided then that she wasn’t going to go out and chase weak, fantastical leads and play detective.

She thought about summer break, which was somehow only a couple of months ago. The most unusual part about her summer had been the fact that she’d spent a couple of weeks out of Hawkins at her dad’s across the state. Then she came back and Hawkins continued to be a sleepy town, everyone's kids, siblings, and friends were safe. She spent her days with her friends, or going shopping.

And no six-foot idiot boys were clawing their way back into her life, on top of everything else.

She groaned and put her head in her hands, wondering how everything had turned upside down so quickly. The feeling of helplessness was overwhelming, and if Nancy coped with that feeling by pushing herself to the edge of delusion to pass the time, then fine.

Lisa wasn’t under any impression that they'd have more luck than the police in finding out what happened to Barb.

After the news about Will, she felt sick to her stomach with the thought that Barb wouldn’t be found safe. So she realised that all she could do to keep herself together was to stay busy and focused on her schoolwork, or else she’d fall apart completely.

Chapter Text

Lisa fixed Dustin’s tie for him while he silently straightened his cardigan and formal trousers, his outfit for the funeral. She anxiously brushed the skirt of her black dress and silently pulled her brother in for a hug which he immediately returned.

“You okay, bud?” she asked him.

He pulled back from the hug and nodded, “yeah, I’m fine.”

“Ready to go, kids?” their dad called from the kitchen. “Mom is waiting in the car.”

Their dad had travelled across the state to Hawkins once their mother had called him to tell him what had happened. Their parents were still on good terms, and in the five years since the divorce, they had somehow gotten along far better than they had when they were married.

“Some people are just better off being friends, hon,” her mom had told her once.

They saw their dad on holidays, and Lisa and Dustin were going to spend time with him that Christmas break. His only flaw in Lisa’s eyes was that he still tried to push them into hobbies that he’d loved as a kid. He’d tried to get Dustin to participate in baseball or basketball, and didn’t quite understand that Dustin had a flair for science.

Meanwhile Lisa had spent weeks at band camp of all things when she was younger, attempting to learn the clarinet when she’d much rather have spent the time going through all their old pop-rock or folk records to put a mixtape together for herself. She still didn’t know where Dustin had hidden her instrument when she’d come back from camp, though she had to admit she’d never looked very hard for it.

Aside from that, he was a kind man and a good dad, and Lisa was glad he was there for the funeral.

“Your new ‘do is lovely, Claudia,” he winked playfully at their mom as they all climbed into the car.

“Why, thank you, Walter,” their mom blushed. “I see your ‘tache is still going as strong as ever.”

She turned around to smile supportively at her two kids as their dad started the car.

The car ride to the graveyard was quiet, as their parents conversed quietly in the front, and Lisa just stared out the window at the passing trees.

The funeral service was short, but nice, and there was a huge turn out from shocked members of the community. Lisa stood with her parents, while Dustin stood in front of them with Mike and Lucas. Nancy was nearby with her parents, and Jonathan stood with Joyce directly at the graveside.

After the service, Lisa watched in tears as the coffin was lowered into the ground. The little boy she’d known for years and come to adore in all his quirkiness was gone, and she was watching him being buried right in front of her.

She leaned into her mom as she began to cry, and Mrs Henderson rubbed her back consolingly as she herself cried, thinking of her own son and the unimaginable pain Joyce must be experiencing. Her dad wrapped his arms around her and her mom, his own face drawn with sadness.

The shock and grief of the town kept the graveside silent, apart from the boys in front of her, and she had to poke Dustin in the back as he leaned over to whisper something to Mike and Lucas who smiled, surprisingly.

Afterwards, Lisa went over to hug Jonathan tightly, “I’m so sorry, Jonathan.”

He hugged her back, for a long moment, and when he pulled back his eyes were shining, “thanks, Lise. Thanks for being here, and there for me in general.”

She nodded and then hugged Joyce who appeared more confused and angry than upset, but who was anyone to judge her emotions at a time like this. However, her face softened when she saw Lisa, and gratefully accepted the hugs from her and Mrs Henderson.

*

The next day, Lisa phoned Nancy asking to hang out that night but Nancy turned her down, saying she was seeing Steve for a few hours and wouldn’t be able to talk until the day after. Lisa was disappointed, and slightly pissed, but she figured she should let Nancy do her own thing.

If seeing Steve helped to cheer her up then that’s what she should do.

Later on, the sound of the doorbell ringing pulled her attention from her book. She was home alone so got up from the couch and saw that their mom’s cat Mews had taken up residence directly in front of the door.

The cat just stared at her with withering dislike, and she stared back with equal disdain, trying once again to slide her away from the floor with her foot.

The doorbell rang again and Lisa glared even harder at the cat, “just a second! Move, you damned demon cat!”

The cat hissed and clawed at her socked feet as she tried to move her, and she ended up having to herd her with an umbrella from the stand next to the door.

“Don’t hiss at me, you little bastard.”

After more hissing and general nastiness from the cat, she opened the door and almost fell back in shock to see Steve Harrington on the other side.

“Steve?”

“Uh, hey. Did you just have a one-sided argument with your cat?”

Lisa flushed in embarrassment, “well, um, she’s my mom’s cat. I don’t claim her, she’s an asshole. And she’s evil, I did tell Mom that we should’ve brought her to get exorcised but she-”

She stopped, “sorry, rambling.”

Steve chuckled, “don’t apologise.”

She looked at him expectantly, “so…?”

He shook his head, “er- yeah, so I know me showing up on your doorstep is a bit weird-”

“It is, actually,” she said, opening the door wider and stepping out onto the porch with him. “Why are you here? Looking for more personal property to break? I don’t have any cameras lying around, sorry.”

He rolled his eyes, “Byers was stalking us so-”

Lisa waved her hand dismissively, “I don’t want to hear it. He buried his brother yesterday.”

Steve looked down awkwardly, and didn’t answer so Lisa spoke again, “why are you here, Steve?”

He ran a hand through his hair, “I’m just…I’m worried about Nancy, alright? I saw her earlier and she was acting weird, so when you see her later to study could you just make sure she’s okay? I figured if she’d talk to anyone it’d be you-”

“Um, I’m not seeing her later,” Lisa interrupted, confused.

“What?” Steve asked, equally as dumbfounded. “She told me she was coming over here tonight.”

Lisa laughed awkwardly, “she’s not, I asked her to come over but she said she’d already made plans with you.”

Steve seemed genuinely hurt, “oh, alright. That’s a bit weird, don’t you think?”

Lisa shrugged, “look, sometimes Nancy gets really hyper focused on something, and everything else falls by the wayside for a while. She’s probably just stuck doing a school assignment or something and got her days mixed up.”

Steve nodded, “yeah, maybe. Um, thanks Lisa. See you around.”

She gave him an awkward wave and sat back down on the couch, wondering what the hell was going on with Nancy Wheeler.

—

Lisa went into town the following morning with the intention of buying some new clothes since the devil cat had decided to use her laundry as a scratching post. She stopped on the sidewalk when she spotted Nancy and Jonathan outside of the hardware store loading a few boxes into the trunk of Jonathan’s car.

“Nancy? Jonathan?” she walked over and Nancy’s eyes went wide when she saw her.

“I’ve been trying to reach you all weekend, Nancy,” she said, not even trying to hold back her annoyance. “Oh, and Steve called to my house looking for you, because apparently you lied to both of us about what you were doing”

Nancy gaped at her, “shit.”

“Yeah. Shit,” Lisa repeated.

Nancy looked briefly at Jonathan, and then Lisa’s brain caught up with what she was seeing, and she looked between the two of them.

She’d only seen the two speak more than a couple of words to each other maybe once, and that was the previous week.

“Wait, since when are you two friends?”

“Look, Lisa there’s just some…stuff going on right now,” Nancy began, almost nervously. “It’s a lot to take in, and I don’t want to burden you with it so-”

“Cut the bullshit, Nancy, tell me what’s going on,” Lisa said irritably, folding her arms. “And if you don’t, Jonathan will, because he can never keep secrets from me.”

“True, actually,” Jonathan admitted, giving Nancy a sheepish look.

“Okay,” Nancy said, nodding as though relieved at being able to tell Lisa about whatever was going on. “It’ll take a while to explain so-”

A car horn beeping behind them cut her off and a guy from school leaned out of the window with a taunting grin on his face, “hey, Nance! Can’t wait to see your movie!”

Then he drove off, and he and his friends in the car laughed hysterically.

“Um, what was that about?” Lisa asked.

“I don’t know,” Nancy replied anxiously, and then something caught her attention and her eyes went wide.

“What?” Jonathan asked, and he shared a confused look with Lisa. They both followed Nancy as she quickly made her way down the street, and when she began to run, so did they.

“Nancy, wait!” Lisa called but Nancy didn’t slow down as she ran across the road in the direction of the movie theatre.

Lisa and Jonathan spotted the graffiti at the same time.

“What the fuck?” Jonathan said loudly.

Lisa shook her head in disbelief, “there’s no way in hell…”

The billboard above the movie theatre advertised its showing of the new Tom Cruise movie, ‘All the Right Moves’ but underneath it…Lisa stared at it in horror.

Under the movie title, graffitied in red spray paint, it said ‘starring Nancy ‘The Slut’ Wheeler’.

“Jesus,” Jonathan mumbled in shock while Nancy shook her head, both hurt and mortified.

Loud laughing and the sound of spray paint caught their attention, and then Nancy was storming into the alleyway next to the movie theatre.

Lisa ran after Nancy and saw Tommy with a can of red spray paint, graffitiing ‘Byers is a perv’ on a boarded up doorway.

“Aw, hey there, princess!” Carol jeered as Nancy approached Steve.

“Uh oh! She looks upset!” Tommy commented with a smug smile.

Before anyone could say or do anything else, Nancy slapped Steve across the face.

“What is wrong with you?!” Nancy demanded furiously as Lisa stared between the two of them in disbelief.

“What’s wrong with me?” Steve repeated incredulously, “what’s wrong with you!? I was worried about you.”

He spared a brief glance at Lisa and looked back at Nancy with disgust, “I can’t believe that I was actually worried about you.”

“What are you talking about!?” Nancy demanded.

“I wouldn’t lie if I were you! You don’t want to be known as the lying slut, now do you?” Carol said with a sickly sweet voice.

“Shut up, Carol,” Lisa hissed and the redhead glared at her.

“Speak of the devil,” Tommy said, eyeing Jonathan with a malicious grin as he hesitantly approached Nancy’s other side.

Nancy looked over at Jonathan and then back at Steve, “you came by last night?”

“Ding, ding, ding! Does she get a prize?” Carol said.

“Does anyone want to explain what the hell is going on?” Lisa said and Steve looked at her for a moment before looking back at Nancy.

“Yeah, I came by last night, Nancy,” Steve was beyond furious, but it was clearly hiding a lot of pain, too. “Shortly after I called by your best friend’s house, actually, who you said you were hanging out with. Only, she was under the impression that you were hanging out with me.”

Steve’s brows drew together and he turned to Lisa, “unless…were you covering for her, Lisa?” His voice was softer, the hurt showing through more than the anger as he looked at her.

“Wait, what? What do you mean by ‘covering for her’?” Lisa asked, completely at a loss.

“So you’ve been screwed over too, huh?” Steve said to her, his eyes not leaving Nancy. “Welcome to the club, Henderson.”

“Nancy, what's going on?” Lisa asked her friend directly, her own anger rising too. She still had her reservations about Steve, but that hurt in his eyes, that couldn’t be faked.

Nancy turned around with tears in her eyes, “I didn’t want to lie to you, Lisa. I’ll explain everything to you.”

“Great, what about me?” Steve demanded.

She turned back to him, trying to school her features, “look, I don’t know what you think you saw, but it wasn’t like that.”

“What, you just let him into your room to…study?” Steve retorted.

“Or for another pervy photo session?” Tommy interjected with a sneer.

“We were just-”

“You were just what?” Steve snapped, “finish that sentence.”

He took a step closer to Nancy, as did Lisa, standing closer to her friend as he glared at Nancy.

“Finish the sentence.”

Nancy said nothing, and the anger on Steve’s face gave way to pure hurt, misery, “go to hell, Nancy.”

“Lisa, Nancy, let’s just leave,” Jonathan said quietly, tugging on Nancy’s arm.

Steve turned around, “you know what, Byers? I’m actually kind of impressed. I always took you for a queer but I guess you’re just a little screw-up like your father.”

“Steve!” Lisa gasped, completely taken aback.

“Don’t look at me like that, Lisa, this guy isn’t right in the head,” he shook his head and shoved Jonathan by the shoulder. “Yeah, that house is full of screw-ups. You know, I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised, I mean, a bunch of screw-ups in your family, like your mom-”

“Jonathan, don’t,” Nancy said as Jonathan’s hands began to shake with fury.

But Steve wasn’t done, “I’m not even surprised what happened to your brother-”

“Steve shut up!” Lisa snapped angrily, trying to drag Steve back by the arm but he pulled out of her grasp.

“-but the Byers, their family, it’s a disgrace to the entire-”

And then Jonathan’s fist collided with Steve’s face, knocking him into a wall. Lisa and Nancy exclaimed in horror, and then Steve slowly straightened up and tackled Jonathan to the ground.

“Steve!” Nancy yelled, “stop it!”

The two girls shouted and pleaded with the boys to stop while Steve’s friends jeered and egged them on.

Jonathan got Steve to the ground, gaining the upper hand as he repeatedly punched Steve in the face. Just then, two cop cars pulled up, but Jonathan didn’t stop hitting Steve, and he even elbowed one of the cops in the face. Two cops wrestled Jonathan off Steve, and then Tommy dragged Steve from the ground before running off after Carol.

Steve grabbed Lisa by the hand and pulled her along with him, and Lisa let him.

Chapter Text

Once around the street corner, and out of sight from the cops, Lisa yanked her arm out of Steve’s grip, “get off me, asshole. I can run just fine by myself!”

“Do you want to get caught by the cops, Henderson?” he asked her incredulously and then he pulled her into an alcove of a closed storefront while the others ran ahead.

They stood in silence until the cops ran past them, chasing Tommy and the others, and then Steve collapsed down onto the steps at their feet.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” he muttered, his head hanging between his knees.

Not knowing what else to do, Lisa sat down next to him, resting her elbows on her knees.

What on earth had just happened? Nancy and Jonathan, who were supposed to be her best friends, were keeping secrets from her…together? And what the hell were they doing putting boxes from the hardware store into Jonathan’s car? Last time Lisa checked, Nancy wasn’t a fan of DIY.

“What is wrong with me, goddamnit!” Steve’s outburst startled Lisa, and she looked at him in surprise, and that was the first time she saw the full extent of his injuries.

“Sorry, sorry. I just, I don’t know why I say that shit. I don’t actually think all that about the Byers’ but- shit, I was just so pissed,” he ran his hands through his hair, clearly agitated.

She actually felt sorry for him.

He looked over at her then, resting his elbow on his knee, “why are you here, Lisa?”

She pursed her lips, “because you dragged me along when you were running from the cops after fighting with my friend?”

“He’s got one hell of a right hook, I’ll give him that,” Steve rested his cheek on his hand only to wince when he touched the split skin there. “Ouch! Jesus.”

Lisa opened her handbag and pulled out a packet of tissues and a bottle of water, “here, let me.”

She opened the bottle of water and poured some of the water out onto a tissue, then she reached over, “can I?”

Steve nodded, and she gently dabbed the drying blood away from his cheekbone, and wiped away the fresh droplets before they could trail down his face.

He angled himself towards her slightly so she could reach his face better, mumbling an apology when his knees bumped against hers.

After a moment of silence, he sighed, “I’m such an asshole.”

“Yep, you are,” Lisa agreed.

“I deserved that,” Steve replied, wincing when she got to the cut above his eyebrow.

She silently cleaned his cuts, really not knowing why she was doing it. “You said some really horrible shit, Steve. Like really nasty stuff.”

“I know. I don’t know why- when Tommy and the others are there I just get so-”

“That’s no excuse, you can’t blame other people for how you act. You’re not a child, Steve,” Lisa said sharply, stopping her cleaning to look him in the eye, and then she looked away to get more tissues from her bag.

“You don’t mess around,” Steve mumbled, and when she got a fresh tissue to continue cleaning the cut over his eyebrow he watched her.

He spoke again, clearly not someone who liked silence, “why are you helping me?”

“You have blood on your face.”

“Okay well, apart from the obvious, why are you helping me? You clearly don’t like me right now, or at all.”

“I don’t dispute that,” she said quietly, brushing his hair back with her fingers to wipe blood away from his hairline.

“Then why?”

She stopped cleaning his face and sat back to look at him. Why was she helping him? Part of her knew it was because she hoped that deep down, he was still the boy who’d been her friend.

She didn’t say that though, she just shrugged, “for Nancy.”

“Oh, yeah,” Steve said, picking at a hole in the knee of his jeans and not meeting her eye.

Lisa let out a long breath, “if you don’t stop acting like such an asshole, you’re going to lose her.”

Steve grew defensive, “mind your own damn business, Henderson.”

Lisa stood abruptly and dropped the slightly bloody tissue in his lap, “okay fine, then clean up your own goddamn mess, Harrington.”

“Lisa, I-”

“No, don’t ‘Lisa’ me,” Lisa snapped, finally at the end of her tether. “If you had any ounce of respect for yourself, or the people around you, you’d stop with this goddamn stupid facade-”

“Now, just hold on a minute-”

“No, I’m not finished,” she said, her eyes blazing, and he shut his mouth. “You don’t need to be a dickhead to be liked by the people that matter. If you push away the people that actually give a shit about you just so you can be liked by those assholes, then you’re lost, Steve.”

He was quiet, studying her face as he let her words sink in, then he nodded once, “you’re right.”

“I know,” she said shortly, crossing her arms.

“I’m going to fix this.”

“You bet your ass you are.”

He looked up at her from where he was still sitting on the steps, and then he chuckled slightly, “you’re something else, Henderson, you know that?”

She scowled, “if I had any sense I’d let your face swell until your mouth closed up, but we need to get ice on that.”

“‘We’?” Steve repeated.

She glared, “don’t make me change my mind.”

He nodded and stood up, towering over her. She was shorter than Nancy, but didn’t realise how short she was until standing right next to Steve. She didn’t even know how someone could even reach-

She scowled, not knowing why she was thinking about, well, anything relating to him at all, actually. She once again debated with herself about what she was doing.

“This way,” she said as she walked away, not waiting for him.

She silently led him to her car, and he awkwardly drummed his fingers on his knees as he looked around the interior.

“What?” she asked.

He held up his hands, “er- nothing. Nice car.”

“Thanks,” she answers, pulling out onto the street.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“The gas station on the other side of town, figured the cops won’t look for you there,” she told him.

He nodded, then winced, “yeah, good. Smart.”

Lisa pulled into the parking lot of the gas station, where Tommy and Carol were already there, sitting on the bonnet of Tommy's car, clearly having had the same idea.

They were sipping on some soda and laughing hysterically.

“There you are, Harrington!” Tommy said as Lisa parked and she and Steve got out of the car.

“Finally seeing sense and staying away from the slut and the perv, huh, Henderson?” he said when he saw her.

Lisa ignored Tommy and glanced at Steve, “I’ll be back in a minute.”

She went inside and bought a pack of aspirin, as well as frozen peas and a can of Coke, figuring either of them would work for the swelling and bruising.

She walked out of the shop and back to the others, handing everything to Steve who gave her a grateful smile, wincing slightly as the movement hurt his split lip.

“Thanks, Lise,” he said quietly, and she nodded and stepped back, hovering slightly away from the others, folding her arms in front of her chest.

Steve took the painkillers straight away and Tommy nodded in determination, readying himself for a hypothetical fight, “don’t worry, he’ll need more than an aspirin when we’re done with him.”

“Yeah, if the creep ever gets out,” Carol snorted. “The cops should just lock him up forever. Did you see the look on his face?”

She mockingly imitated Jonathan throwing punches as Tommy laughed and looked over at Steve, “he probably had that same look whenever he killed his brother right-?”

“Hey, that’s enough,” Lisa seethed.

“If you don’t like it, sweetheart, then leave,” Tommy sneered.

“Yeah, maybe you and Nancy Wheeler could form a support group for annoying little sluts- oh wait, you’re probably a virgin,” Carol jeered, pouting mockingly at Lisa who narrowed her eyes.

“Carol, for once in your life, shut your goddamn mouth!” Steve shouted at her, furious.

“Hey, what’s your problem, man?” Tommy said.

“You’re both assholes, that’s my problem!”

“Are you serious right now?” Tommy said incredulously.

Steve stood up from where he was leaning against Tommy’s car, “yeah, I’m serious. You shouldn’t have done that.”

Tommy was getting riled up, “done what? Called Wheeler out for what she really is? Oh, that’s funny, because I don’t remember you asking me to stop. Maybe we should’ve written a little message for Henderson too-”

“I should’ve put that can of spray paint right down your fucking throat,” Steve said dangerously to Tommy.

“Steve, let's just go,” Lisa said, trying to diffuse the situation.

“Still the pathetic little nerd following Steve around?” Carol sneered. “You should just get lost already, find some equally desperate boy to give you a good-”

“I told you to watch your mouth!” Steve roared at her, and then Tommy shoved him into the side of the car.

“Get out of my face,” Steve seethed, pushing Tommy back.

Tommy got him by the collar and got right into his face, “you gonna fight me too? Huh? You gonna fight me too? Cos you couldn’t even take Jonathan Byers, so I wouldn’t recommend that.”

Tommy let go of Steve, and Lisa took the opportunity to quickly grab Steve by the arm and pull him towards her car.

They drove in silence until Lisa cleared her throat, “do you want me to drop you to yours?”

Steve groaned, “God, my parents will kill me when they see me. Well, if they even notice I’m home.”

Lisa considered that for a moment, “okay, I’ll take you back to mine first so we can get you properly cleaned up.”

“Thanks,” he said earnestly, leaning tiredly back against the headrest and closing his eyes.

—

Lisa drove to her street to find multiple cars and vans outside the house, as well as a number of people in suits walking in and out of her house with boxes.

“What the hell is this?” she asked, slowing her driving as she looked at the scene in front of them.

“Is it the FBI or something?” Steve suggested, noting all the suits walking around with evidence bags.

Lisa pulled the car in and hurried out and into her house, Steve trailing somewhat awkwardly behind her.

“Mom?”

“Lisa? Oh thank goodness,” Mrs Henderson rushed in from the living room and threw her arms around her daughter, not even noticing the almost six-foot tall boy standing behind her.

“What’s going on, Mom?” Lisa asked urgently.

“They’re looking for a Russian spy, or something! I don’t know, they won’t tell me! They’re with the…government,” her mom whispered the last word, as if saying it out loud would get her in trouble.

“Miss Henderson?” a man in a suit asked and Lisa nodded.

“Do you know the whereabouts of your brother?”

“I’m sorry- what? My brother?” she asked incredulously.

“Yes, miss. We believe he’s harbouring a dangerous individual.”

Lisa stared at the suited man looking at her and then at the others who had stopped to pay attention to the conversation, and then she did what any person in her situation would do.

Lisa Henderson burst into a fit of laughter in front of a group of supposed government agents.

“I’m sorry, but you think Dustin, my brother, is harbouring a fugitive? Is this a prank? This has to be a prank,” she asked between laughs, while her mother swatted her repeatedly in an attempt to get her to control herself.

“Alright, miss, if you have no information then we’ll just have to ask you to stay out of our way while we continue our search,” the man said before turning away.

“Mom, is this for real?” Lisa asked her mother, who looked around nervously and then bent down to pick up Mews the cat, who immediately hissed at Lisa.

“Karen Wheeler called and said that there’s agents in their house too, and at the Sinclairs’. I don’t know what- oh my, hello there.”

Mrs Henderson looked up at Steve who stuck out like a sore thumb. Lisa cringed internally at the whole situation of her house swarming with agents, and even stranger yet, Steve Harrington standing in her hallway.

“Mom, this is Steve Harrington. You’ve met before.”

“Oh, goodness, it’s been too long!” Mrs Henderson said, beaming up at him and blinking quickly. “You really have grown tall!”

“Good to see you again, Ms Henderson,” Steve said politely, though he looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him up.

“Please, call me Claudia,” she told him brightly, as if their house wasn’t currently swarming with strangers.

“Claudia,” he repeated awkwardly.

“I thought you said you weren’t friends anymore, honey?” Her mom asked and Lisa groaned in frustration.

“We’re not, Mom,” she said. “We….we were just-”

“You poor dear, what happened to your face?” Mrs Henderson asked sympathetically, getting a proper look at Steve.

“He fell off his bike like an idiot, so I said I’d help him get cleaned up rather than run him over with my car,” Lisa said quickly to her mother who nodded in mild confusion and waved them away.

“Come on,” she said, grabbing Steve by his sleeve and dragging him across the house to her room.

He stopped just inside the door, “um, this is your bedroom.”

“Incredible observation skills, Harrington,” she said dryly. “The bathroom is across the hall, there’s bandaids and wipes in the cupboard under the sink.”

As soon as she heard Steve leaving her bedroom, as weird as that thought was, she began to root through her closet and then in her dresser. Then, in a box under her bed, she found it.

She switched on the Walkie-Talkie waiting for it to pick up the only frequency it had ever been set to.

“Dustin, do you copy? Over.”

All she got was static, so she tried again, “Dustin, it’s Lisa. Do you copy? Over.”

She was just about to give up when he answered, his voice crackling slightly with static, “Lisa? What the hell’s going on? First Nancy radioing us, now you? Over.”

“Dustin, there’s people in our house searching through our stuff, and they’re saying you’re harbouring a fugitive? Over.”

There was a beat of silence, “it’s a long story, over.”

“So you are harbouring a-” Lisa took a breath, rolling her eyes up to the heavens before radioing back. “Dustin, where's Nancy? Over.”

Steve walked back into the room then, his face clean of blood with a few steri-strips on the split skin over his eyebrow. His hair was slightly damp having been combed back with his fingers, and he looked at her questioningly as he listened in.

Another moment of silence passed before Dustin answered, “er- we don’t actually know. She was with Jonathan but we don’t see them now. Over.”

“‘We’? Who’s ‘we’?””

“You didn’t say ‘over’, also that’s classified information. Over.”

“Where are you right now, Dustin?” Lisa demanded, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers in frustration.

“Classified. Over.”

Lisa scowled, “alright, I’m going to find Nancy and Jonathan. Over.”

“No, don’t-” Lisa cut Dustin off by switching off her radio and throwing it into the handbag she’d dumped unceremoniously on her bed.

Lisa turned to Steve, “fancy another road trip? Cos we’ve gotta go. Now.”

Chapter Text

Lisa swung open her wardrobe and pulled out a jacket which she put on over her sweater and jeans, and once she’d picked up her bag with the Walkie-Talkie stowed inside, she beckoned Steve to follow her through the house.

She grabbed her car keys from the table in the hall where she’d left them, and was just walking to the front door when an agent stopped them from leaving.

“Miss, you can’t leave,” he said sternly.

“I sure as shit can leave,” she answered, trying to push past.

The agent stopped her, “miss, you can’t leave without informing us of your whereabouts.”

She sighed loudly, “fine, I need to make an urgent trip to the store to get tampons because I’ve just got my period, and my friend here is coming with me because I can never reach the top shelf. Is that enough information for you?”

The man paled slightly and she could've sworn his eye even twitched slightly, but as she'd planned, he nodded and moved out of her way so they could leave.

Once in the car, Steve turned to her, “you just called me your friend.”

“Shut up, no I didn’t,” she said, intentionally pressing too hard on the brakes to jolt him a bit as she reversed out of the driveway.

“Yes you did.”

“Well, I also said that I need to urgently buy tampons.”

“And…do you?”

“No, Steve,” she sighed.

He nodded, but didn’t say anything else. Lisa wondered how long he’d be able to stay quiet for.

She’d driven halfway down the street when Steve let out a loud sigh as if he’d been holding his breath for twenty minutes, “okay, so, wanna tell me what’s going on?”

“Basically, my brother and his stupid friends are mixed up in something, and they can’t find Nancy and Jonathan, who were apparently with them until recently, so we’re going to look for them. Or at least I am, I can drop you off somewhere.”

“I’m going with you, Lisa,” Steve said without hesitation. “Where do we go first?”

“My mom said that the agents are at the Wheelers’ too, so we’re going to Jonathan’s house. It’s a bit out of town but it’s the only other place I can think of right now where they might be.”

“Okay, sounds good,” Steve said, and they drove in silence for a few minutes.

“Steve?” Lisa asked hesitantly.

“Uh, yeah?” he replied, seemingly surprised that she was actually initiating a conversation with him.

“Thank you, for, um, for standing up for me back there, with your friends,” she tightened her grip on the steering wheel slightly as she spoke, uneasy about letting her defences down in front of Steve.

Steve shook his head, “you don’t need to thank me for that, Lisa. Honestly, I should’ve done it a long time ago. I should’ve done it on the first day of school last year, before I fucked everything up and lost you.”

Lisa bit her lip cursing herself for the unexpected tears that filled her eyes at how fiercely he’d said those words.

Steve hesitated a bit before speaking again, “Lisa, I really am sorry about everything that happened. I really- I’m so sorry.”

Lisa looked across at him for a brief moment before turning her eyes back to the road, “I…I believe you, Steve.”

Steve let out a long breath, “good.”

Lisa leaned forward to try and catch sight of the entrance to the Byers’ house, since it was dark and there were no street lamps. She concentrated hard, trying to spot the opening in the trees and hedges.

“So, what should I say to Nancy if she's there? And to Jonathan? Should I have- I dunno, brought a cake? Or flowers, or something? Maybe I should’ve gone to the store to get some-”

“Steve.”

“Yeah?”

“Please be quiet for a minute.”

“Roger that, boss.”

Lisa spotted the opening in the hedges and pulled into the Byers’ driveway and parked the car. It didn’t look like anyone was home, all the lights were off and Joyce’s car wasn’t there.

Steve was about to open the car door and Lisa grabbed his wrist to stop him, “Steve, remember to actually apologise to Jonathan. And to Nancy, if she’s here as well. And, for the love of Christ, don’t jump to any conclusions, alright?”

“No jumping to conclusions, got it.”

She quickly let go of his wrist and he climbed out of the car, and she followed him to the Byers’ front door. She let Steve go first, and he rapped his knuckles on the door quickly.

He looked down at her in a panic, “shit, was that too eager? I feel like that knock sounded too eager. Should I wait a minute before knocking again? Or would that seem impatient-”

"Steve, relax," she told him, resisting the urge to smile slightly as she caught a glimpse of the Steve she used to know in his awkward rambling.

Steve nodded and knocked again, loudly, “Jonathan!? Are you there, man? It’s…it’s Steve! And Lisa’s here too! Listen, I just wanna talk!”

Steve glanced back at Lisa again who gave him an encouraging nod, and just as he knocked on the door again, it unlocked and Nancy peeked her head out slightly.

“Steve, Lisa, listen to me-”

Steve stared at her as though surprised that she was actually there, “hey. Nancy, what-”

“You both need to leave,” Nancy said sharply.

“I’m not trying to start anything, okay?”

Lisa stepped forward until she was next to Steve, and Nancy grimaced as she looked at her best friend, really hating having to keep secrets from her.

“Nancy, tell us what’s happening,” Lisa pleaded.

“I can’t explain right now, please just go-” she tried to close the door but Steve leaned into the doorway again.

He really wanted her to hear him out, almost begging her to listen, “no, no, no- listen, Nancy. I messed up. Okay? I messed- I messed up. Please. I just want to make things right.” Lisa stepped aside slightly to allow Steve his moment with Nancy.

“Please,” he said to Nancy with the utmost sincerity, “please, I- wait, what happened to your hand? Is that blood?”

“What happened?” Lisa asked, stepping forward again to see Nancy’s bandaged hand.

Nancy looked at her with a pleading expression, “Lisa, please go, it’s nothing-”

“Wait a sec,” Steve cut in, “did he do this to you?”

Lisa tried to reason with him, “Steve, let’s not jump to-”

It was too late, Steve was already pushing his way through the door and into the Byers’ house.

“-conclusions,” Lisa scowled, and then she hurried in after him, ready to pull him back from Jonathan if she had to.

“Lisa, Steve, no! You have to-” Nancy protested but they were already inside.

Lisa and Steve stopped at the same time, shocked at what they saw inside the house.

One of the living room walls had letters painted on it like some sort of large Ouija board, and there were Christmas lights hanging from the walls and ceilings, all around the house. The coffee table had a number of makeshift weapons and snares scattered across it, and a strong, overpowering smell filled her nose as she stepped further into the room, making her eyes water.

“What is..what the..” Steve stammered, looking like he was about to pass out.

Lisa felt fear running up her spine like a cold chill, “uh- what is all…have you guys joined a cult or something?”

Jonathan walked over and put his hands on her shoulders, trying to walk her back towards the front door, “Lisa, please. You need to get out of here.”

Steve’s eyes were wide in shock as the strong smell hit him too, “what the hell is- is that gasoline!?”

Jonathan let go of Lisa and grabbed Steve who was trying to walk further into the living room, and attempted to haul him to the door, “listen to me, I’m not asking you, I’m telling you-”

“Is this because of those government guys?” Lisa asked urgently and Nancy’s jaw dropped open and she shared a look with Jonathan.

Nancy stared at Lisa, “did you talk to them?”

“They think our brothers are hiding a dangerous fugitive, which is complete bullshit,” Lisa replied, but upon seeing Nancy’s face she faltered. "It is bullshit, right? Nancy!?”

“Lisa-”

“Jonathan, tell me what’s going on! NOW!” Lisa protested as he once again tried to haul her towards the door, but then the click of a gun made them all shut up.

“You both need to leave ,” Nancy said, a handgun held in front of her.

Lisa shrieked and gaped at her best friend, hardly believing her eyes, “what the fuck , Nancy?”

Steve was freaking out hysterically behind her, “wait! What!? What is going on? What !?”

Lisa glared at Nancy, who looked both apologetic and like she was begging her to listen, “you have five seconds to get out of here.”

Steve was still freaking out, “is this a joke? Stop! Put the gun down!”

The lights began flashing around them and Nancy and Jonathan stared at each other in horror.

“What’s happening!?” Lisa shrieked as the lights flickered erratically.

“It’s here,” Jonathan spoke in disbelief.

“What? What’s here?” Steve demanded as the light continued to flash erratically.

“Where is it!?” Nancy asked urgently as she and Jonathan looked around urgently.

“Where’s what? What’s what !?” Lisa cried in fright.

Jonathan and Nancy began walking around the room, staring in every direction, Nancy holding up her gun, and Jonathan brandishing a baseball bat with nails in it.

“You’re crazy, you’re both crazy!” Lisa exclaimed.

She looked at Steve who wore a face of matching terror, “they’re fucking crazy.”

Steve was beside himself, “would someone tell us what the hell is-”

Suddenly, the ceiling in the corner of the living room began to cave in and Lisa screamed and backed right into Steve who was frozen in complete shock as Nancy began to shoot at it.

Lisa went to cover her ears against the loud bangs of the gun, but then something enormous and gruesome climbed down from the ruined plaster.

It made a start towards them, and Lisa and Steve were dragged away, both screaming, by Nancy and Jonathan, out of the living room and across the house.

“Jump over the snare!” Jonathan shouted at them.

“Oh my god, oh my god!" Steve shouted over and over as they both hurdled over the large snare in the middle of the floor.

They were pulled into Jonathan’s bedroom and Lisa immediately collapsed down onto the bed and held her head in her hands.

“Jesus! Jesus! What the hell was that!? What the hell was that!?” Steve shouted, pacing the room and hyperventilating.

“Shut up!” Nancy and Jonathan yelled at him simultaneously.

“This is how I die, isn’t it? Or maybe I’m dreaming. Did I hit my head or-” Lisa mumbled half-deliriously.

Nancy grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her sharply, jerking her back to reality. Or at least what Lisa thought was reality, because this all seemed like something right out of a nightmare.

“Lisa, I’m going to need you to calm down or we’re going to die-”

The two girls jumped in fright when an ear-splitting screech echoed through the house from the other side of the door.

Lisa staggered to her feet next to Steve, and without thinking he wrapped his arm around her back and pulled her into his side as they backed away slightly, and she clung to him, her fingers gripping his shirt.

Jonathan and Nancy stood in front of them, gun raised and in Jonathan’s case, lighter raised.

Lisa felt faint as Jonathan raised the lighter, recalling the smell of gasoline throughout the house.

“We’re gonna die,” she whispered and Steve tightened his grip around her as he stared wide-eyed at the door.

“What’s it doing?” Nancy asked shakily.

“I don’t know,” Jonathan answered quietly, and suddenly, the lights came back on as normal and the noise disappeared.

“Do you hear anything?” Nancy asked.

Jonathan shook his head, “no.”

Jonathan slowly opened the door and walked out of the bedroom and into the empty hallway, where the large snare was untouched, and the rest of them quietly followed him out.

The eerie silence of the house as they walked sent a chill up Lisa’s spine.

They made their way back into the living room and Lisa stopped walking suddenly and ran her hands through her wild curly hair which had come loose from her scrunchie, “what in the unholy hell was that!?”

Nancy grabbed her hand and sat her down on an armchair near the front door, “please, just- stay there.”

Meanwhile Steve was pacing and muttering to himself, “this is crazy. This is crazy. This is crazy!”

He yelled the last part and snatched the phone off the wall presumably to call the cops, much to Lisa’s relief, but Nancy grabbed it from him.

“What are you- what are you doing!? Are you insane-”

“It’s going to come back!” she snapped at him. “So you need to leave. Both of you. Right now.”

Steve looked between Nancy and Lisa, and then he darted forward and grabbed Lisa by the hand, pulling her up and out of the armchair and then out the front door with him, slamming it shut behind them.

They ran to the car, panting in fright. Lisa’s hands shook so badly that she couldn’t put the car key into the door so Steve came over and took them from her in an attempt to help, but then the electricity in the Byers’ house began to pulsate again, stopping them in their tracks.

Steve looked down at Lisa with wide eyes, and in one momentarily shared look, they knew they were going back inside.

Lisa took the car keys back from Steve with newfound resolve and walked around and opened the trunk, leaning in to drag over the toolbox. She tossed Steve a wrench which he caught from the air, and grabbed a large axe for herself.

“Why do you get the big axe?” he protested.

“Because it’s my big axe, Steve," she replied, giving it a swing through the air to test its weight.

They heard shouting and inhuman screeches, and they quickly burst back into the house to see Jonathan being pinned down on the floor by the enormous, nightmarish creature.

Then, it turned on Nancy just as her gun clicked empty.

Lisa acted on some sort of instinct and slammed her axe hard into the creature’s back before it could attack Nancy.

Meanwhile, Steve grabbed Jonathan’s baseball bat from the floor, and together, they hit the creature repeatedly until it backed away, injured.

“Lisa? Steve?” Nancy exclaimed in disbelief, and while Steve gave the thing an almighty kick.

Lisa glanced back at Nancy, with a slightly crazed smile, “couldn’t let you two have all the fun, could we?”

They continued beating the monster until it stepped right back into the snare.

“It’s in the trap!” Lisa yelled. “It's stuck!”

Nancy shouted, “Jonathan, now!”

Jonathan leapt in front of them and clicked on the lighter, then he threw to the floor at the monster’s feet. The gasoline on the carpet lit up, consuming the creature and the hallway, and they all stepped back and shielded their eyes against the brightness of it.

The creature was shrieking in agony, and when it stopped, Jonathan put the fire out with a fire extinguisher until the flames died down completely. They all coughed the smoke out of their airways, and the sound of their panting echoed around the dark room as they walked to where the snare was.

Only to their horror, the snare was empty.

“Where did it go?” Nancy asked and the rancid smell of burning flesh filled their noses as they got closer.

Lisa covered her nose and mouth with her sleeve, trying not to gag at the smell, and Jonathan looked around, “no…it has to be dead. It has to be.”

“What sort of animal was that?” Lisa asked faintly.

Nancy pursed her lips, “that wasn’t an animal.”

“Alien?” Steve offered, and when Lisa gave him a baffled look, he shrugged helplessly.

Jonathan shook his head in answer to Steve’s question, but before he could answer, the lights flickered once again, but not erratically like before. Instead, each bulb along the Christmas lights lit up one by one as if following a trail.

They watched in silent fear, grouping closer together with their weapons raised.

Then Lisa heard a strange echo, like hearing someone talking through a wall, “did you guys hear that?”

“Hear what?” Jonathan asked, looking at her quizzically.

Lisa looked around but there was no one else there, “I don’t know, it sounded like someone speaking.”

They followed the lights to the front door and then Jonathan stopped, his eyes widening in realisation, “Mom.”

“Um, what ?” Steve whispered and Lisa shook her head, completely at a loss.

Jonathan walked out onto the porch and they followed, watching as the lamp outside flickered wildly.

“Where’s it going?” Nancy asked.

“I don’t think that’s the monster,” Jonathan answered.

—

They quickly agreed to drive to the middle school, and Lisa had barely put her car in park before she dashed out to where Dustin was.

He was standing with a shock blanket around his shoulders in the middle of the parking lot, which was filled with police cars and ambulances.

“Dustin!” she yelled as she ran.

He whipped around and stared at her in shock as she approached, “Lisa?”

She flung her arms around him and pulled him into a hug, and he hugged her back.

She could barely speak, “I’m so glad you’re okay, there was this monster and we fought it-”

Dustin pulled back from the hug and looked at her in bafflement, “you fought a Demogorgon?”

“A what?”

He just smiled toothily at her, “you are so much cooler than I thought you were.”

Then he pulled her into another hug and she rested her chin on the top of his head.

“You need to explain everything to me, you little asshole. And I mean everything .”

—

That night and into the early hours of the morning, the boys and their siblings and parents sat in the waiting room of the hospital for what felt like hours. But no one minded, all that really mattered was that Will Byers was alive.

Will was alive.

Lisa was sitting on a bench chair next to Steve while her mother sat across the room, whispering hysterically with Mrs Sinclair as they both shared whatever they knew with each other. Dustin and Lucas were asleep nearby, and the Wheelers all sat waiting for news.

Lisa had her jacket wrapped around her and eventually, the adrenaline of the evening wore off, leaving her completely exhausted.

Without meaning to, she fell asleep, and her head slowly fell onto Steve’s shoulder. Something which would've made her kick herself if she'd known she was doing it.

Nancy watched as Steve smiled softly down at Lisa and slowly pulled the jacket back up onto her shoulder after it had fallen down.

The look on his face was unfamiliar, and it took Nancy a minute to figure it out: he looked completely unguarded, at ease. No pretense.

The genuine smile on his face suited him, Nancy thought.

A small smile grew on her face at the sight, knowing how far they’d come in just a few months, but her heart ached as she remembered that Lisa still didn’t know that Barb was dead, that she wasn't coming back. She herself had barely accepted the fact.

Just then, Jonathan walked into the waiting room with a tired smile on his face, telling everyone that Will was awake.

Steve nudged Lisa gently awake, “Lise, Jonathan’s back. The kid’s awake. Will’s awake.”

She sat upright, disorientated from sleeping, and watched as Mike shot up out of his chair to wake the others to go see Will, and she and Nancy went in too once the boys had seen their friend and filled him in on everything he'd missed.

—

A few weeks later, it was Christmas Eve.

Lisa and Jonathan arrived at the same time to collect their respective brothers from the Wheelers’ house.

Mrs Wheeler answered the door with a warm smile, “Merry Christmas, you two! Come on in. The boys are downstairs, of course, and judging by how loud they're shouting, they're just finishing up. Nancy! Lisa and Jonathan are here.”

Nancy walked out of the living room, smiling when she saw them. She pulled Lisa into a tight hug, and then both she and Jonathan went for a hug, but awkwardly stopped themselves at the last minute.

Jonathan cleared his throat, “um, I’m gonna get Will. Lisa, I'll tell Dustin you’re here.”

“Could you tell Lucas, too? I’ll bring him home as well.”

He smiled at her, “sure thing.”

Lisa was relieved to see her friend happy again, no longer bearing the weight of worry for his missing brother, and the grief of thinking he was dead.

Nancy pulled Lisa by the hand into the living room, and Lisa did a double take when Steve grinned at her from the couch and gave her a small wave, all dressed up in a shirt and a Christmas jumper.

“Hey, Steve” she said, smiling tentatively at him and Nancy sat down next to him, then patted the space beside her on the couch.

Lisa sat and grinned as she and Nancy pulled out their wrapped gifts at the same time, passing them to each other.

“On three?” Lisa asked.

Nancy laughed, “on three.”

Steve counted down for them, and the girls unwrapped their gifts from each other.

Nancy gasped, “the blue earrings!? I thought they were sold out.”

“Who do you think bought the last pair?” Lisa grinned and Nancy hugged her before Lisa even had a chance to look at her own gift.

Nancy had gotten her a new pair of headphones for her Walkman, and there was also a cassette tape in the wrapping too, labelled, ‘Monster Hunting Music :)’ across the front.

Lisa laughed out loud, “you’re hilarious, Wheeler.”

“Hey, it was my idea!” Steve exclaimed in protest.

Nancy glared at him, “it absolutely was not! You suggested I get her a fancy bookmark instead of the headphones.”

Lisa looked between the two and smiled, happy for both of them that they were getting along again.

“Oh, I'd better get Jonathan’s!” Nancy gasped, running out of the room and upstairs.

There was a slightly awkward silence as Lisa and Steve sat on the couch together. Lisa thought about how only a few weeks ago, she’d openly disliked him and wanted to hit him in the head with a tray from the cafeteria, and now, they could say they’d fought a literal monster together.

“Lisa,” Steve said, pulling her from her thoughts.

“Hm?”

“You look nice,” he said, then his eyes widened in mild panic, as though worrying he’d just crossed a line.

But Lisa smiled at him and he relaxed, “thanks, the skirt is new. The cat shredded the other one.”

“The devil cat,” he said, grimacing.

“The devil cat,” she repeated with a nod.

They were quiet for another moment and then Steve straightened up

“I- uh,” he scratched the back of his neck shyly, “I brought you something.”

Lisa flushed, “oh, Steve. I didn’t think…I didn’t get you anything-”

He waved his hand dismissively, “no, no, it’s not a gift, really. It’s just something I wanted you to have.”

He reached under the collar of his jumper into his shirt pocket and pulled out a photograph.

He handed it over and Lisa felt tears stinging her eyes. It was a photograph of them from the summer of ‘79, sitting side by side on the front steps of Steve’s house with huge smiles and grass-stained knees.

"I didn't forget, you know," he said softly, "even though it may have seemed like I did."

She looked up at him in surprise, and he gave her a sad smile.

She returned his small smile, "I didn't forget either."

She looked down at the photo again, at her younger self smiling brightly, mid-laughter, while a younger Steve grinned widely at the camera with his eyes scrunched up against the sun, braces and dimples and all.

Steve leaned over to point to his younger self, “at least my hair has improved since then.”

Lisa chuckled, “well, that’s debatable.”

He laughed and she looked over her shoulder to find him already looking at her, “Lisa. I just…I know I can’t take back what I did. But I do want to tell you how sorry I am, again. And I want to make things right.”

She nodded and considered him for a moment, “I forgive you, Steve.”

“You do?” He looked genuinely surprised.

She looked back down at the boy in the photograph, who she could see hints of in the Steve sitting beside her now. “Yeah, I really do.”

He let out a sigh of relief, “can we maybe…start over?”

She smiled, “I’d like that.”

He gave her a hesitant smile, “so…friends?”

She thought for a moment, but smiled, “we’ll build up to that.”

He grinned at her and nodded, “I can work with that.”

The sound of Dustin and Lucas shrieking and arguing in the kitchen signalled it was time for her to go.

She stood up, and turned to Steve once more, giving him a sincere smile, “Merry Christmas, Steve.”

He gave her a light squeeze on the arm before she stood up, “Merry Christmas, Lisa.”

She walked into the kitchen and slung an arm around Will’s shoulders, “how’re you doing, bud?”

He grinned up at her, “really good, Lisa! Well, overall at least. Our campaign tonight could’ve gone better but we’ll work on it for next time.”

She ruffled his hair fondly and then turned to Dustin and Lucas, “could you two stop arguing for one minute and grab your coats?”

“You tell ‘em, Lisa,” Jonathan said with a chuckle, leaning on the kitchen island, and then they all said goodbye to Mrs Wheeler and walked to the front door.

Lisa reached into her coat pocket and handed Jonathan a small wrapped box, “don’t open it until later. And yes I know we don’t usually get each other presents, but you’ve had the shittiest of shitty years. So deal with it, Byers.”

He smiled bashfully and nodded, putting it in his jacket pocket.

Nancy ran down the stairs, “found it!”

Lisa steered Dustin and Lucas out of the front door, giving Nancy a knowing look and a small wave of goodbye. Lisa had given Jonathan a box of new film, to coordinate with the camera Nancy and Steve were giving him to replace the broken one.

Before the door closed, Lisa watched as Nancy handed Jonathan the box, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

She smiled to herself, then leaned down to grab a handful of snow from the grass to shove down the back of Dustin’s sweater which made him scream like a small child. Lucas roared in hysterical laughter, and when he wasn’t looking, Lisa did the same to him, then ran to the safety of her car before either of them could retaliate, laughing until tears filled her eyes.

She let out a sigh as she drove, Dustin and Lucas in the backseat bickering as usual, while classic Christmas songs playing through the radio.

All was right with the world again.

Chapter Text

1984

“Son of a bitch!” Dustin yelled from his room, and Lisa shared a look with her mother from her seat on the couch. “Son of a bitch!”

Dustin ran into the living room and all but yanked Lisa off the couch to root under the cushions beneath her, “hey, watch it, asshole!”

“Another stupid penny!” he flung the small coin across the room.

“Dusty, watch it! You almost hit Mews!” Ms Henderson protested.

Dustin ignored her and pointed to her chair, “can I please check under your cushions?”

“Dusty-”

“Mom, please? It’s an emergency!” he pleaded.

“‘It’s an emergency!’” Lisa mimicked, checking her watch to make sure she wouldn’t be late for work.

“Shut up, Lisa. This wouldn’t be a problem if you just gave us free tokens!” Dustin retorted.

“No can do, bud.”

“Mom!” Dustin groaned, gesturing to the chair she was in. Claudia Henderson groaned in frustration, and he mimicked her as she got up.

He found two coins under the cushions and pumped his fist in triumph, “love you, Mom!”

He sped off to his room and Lisa called after him, “Dustin if you want me to drive you, I’m leaving in twenty minutes!”

After pulling into the carpark of the arcade, Dustin basically jumped out of the car, slammed the door behind him, and ran into the arcade without a word.

“You’re welcome, asshole!” Lisa shouted after him, and then checked her hair and makeup in the mirror before climbing out and straightening her work shirt and nametag.

Joyce and Will pulled up a moment later, and as Will climbed out Joyce warned him to be careful.

“I’ll keep an eye on him, Ms Byers, don’t worry,” she said, leaning her forearms on the window frame of the car.

“Lisa, again, just call me Joyce. I’ve been telling you for years,” she smiled warmly at her. “And thank you, I appreciate it.”

“I’ll call you if there’s any problems,” Lisa reassured her, and Joyce smiled and reached over to pat her hand gratefully.

“See you later, Joyce,” Lisa added and Joyce laughed and waved at her as she went.

Walking into work she overheard Dustin berating the Dragon’s Lair machine, “you know, whatever, I’m still tops on Centipede and Dig Dug.”

“You sure about that?” Keith, Lisa’s coworker at the arcade, said as he popped a Cheeto into his mouth.

“Sure about what?” Dustin asked, and then his eyes went wide in realisation as he shoved past the others.

He pushed past Lisa, screaming, “move, Lisaaa!”

“Don’t crush his dreams, Keith,” she said airily as she walked away.

“You crushed mine, Lisa Henderson,” he replied sorely, and she rolled her eyes at him as she made her way to the back room to put her bag away.

She walked back to see the boys crowding around the Dig Dug machine.

“Who is Mad Max?” Dustin demanded.

Keith shrugged and spoke over his mouthful of Cheetos, “better than you.”

Dustin turned to Lisa who came to stand next to Keith, “Lisa. I’m your brother. You love me. You have to tell me.”

“Sorry, I can hear a child crying by the Defender game. I’ll see you later,” she gave the group a two-fingered salute and walked off, ignoring their protests.

There was, in fact, a child crying by the Defender game, so Lisa crouched down to talk to him with a kind smile, “hey, little buddy, why don’t you try PacMan instead?”

The little boy just screamed angrily in her face, so Lisa just stood up and walked away from him.

“I don’t get paid enough for this shit,” she mumbled under her breath.

As she walked across the arcade and past the front doors, she happened to see Will standing outside, staring up at the sky. She opened the door and called out to him, “Will?”

He didn’t answer so she raised her voice, “hey, Will?”

He startled and turned around with a gasp.

“Will, are you okay?” she asked him worriedly.

He nodded quickly, and then turned to look up at the sky again, “yeah, I just…I needed some air.”

“Okay, well it’s cold out here. Come on in, the others are looking for you,” she said, holding out her arm to beckon him in, and he followed her back inside.

She studied him carefully as he walked past her. It had been ten months since he’d vanished and come back, but he wasn’t quite the same.

She told herself that no kid would be the same, having gone through what Will did. But she also hadn’t thought that monsters were real, and she’d been proven wrong about that, too.

She watched as he rejoined the others and smiled a real smile, and she took a deep breath.

Things were okay. Different, but okay.

—

The following Monday at school, Lisa was sitting in her parked car in the parking lot and rereading some last minute English notes when a loud revving from behind startled her.

She looked over her shoulder to see an unfamiliar car pulling in next to her, and climbed out of her car, startling as a flash of red hair zoomed past on a skateboard down the street towards the middle school.

“Hey there,” came a voice from nearby.

Lisa glanced over to see a handsome young man standing at the car that had pulled in beside her.

“Um, hey? Sorry, have we met?” she asked and he smirked and strolled over, leaning his hip against his car and leaving a respectable distance between them.

“We have now. I’m Billy.”

She blushed under his heated gaze, not used to guys looking at her so shamelessly. “I’m Lisa.”

He gave her an easy smile, “nice to meet you, Lisa.”

Lisa was suddenly very aware of the stares from her fellow students, including the popular cheerleaders and jocks who’d never once even looked in her direction, as stereotypical as that was.

“Are you new here?” she asked, fidgeting with the hem of her light jumper.

“I am, just dropped my kid step-sister off,” he flashed her a grin, “I’m starting at the high school too.”

“Oh, well,” Lisa cleared her throat, “I’m a junior.”

“Senior,” Billy told her with a sly smile, “but don’t let that stop you.”

Lisa bit her lip, unsure what to say to that, and Billy’s eyes followed the movement.

He stepped closer and Lisa took a breath, but his gaze landed on something behind her, and he stopped about a foot in front of her with a smirk.

“I think your friends are waiting for you,” Billy said, nodding over her shoulder.

Lisa turned to see Steve and Nancy watching the exchange, “oh, uh, yeah. I guess I’ll see you around.”

“I’d like that, Lisa,” he said and he gave her a flirtatious wink before walking away.

Steve and Nancy were at her side in a flash.

“Who the hell was that?” Steve asked, glaring at the newcomer’s departing frame.

“I have no idea, some new kid,” Lisa answered, watching him leave too.

She was definitely not admiring the view as he walked away, absolutely not.

—

After leaving class later that day, someone calling Lisa’s name caught her attention. “Hey, Lisa! Wait up!”

Lisa turned around to see her biology partner, Tina, running up to her. She and Tina had become friendly over the summer, after meeting while clothes shopping and agreeing to go for a coffee. They’d met up several times, and Lisa was glad to have a friend that wasn’t part of the whole monster-from-a-parallel-universe thing.

That, and Nancy was spending most of her time with Steve these days, and Jonathan was working hard to save up money so his mom wouldn’t have to work as much now that Will was back and needed extra support.

“Oh, hey, Tina. What’s up?”

Tina grinned, flicking her perfectly styled dark hair over her shoulder, “I’m having a Halloween party at mine tomorrow night, I’d love it if you could make it.”

She handed her a bright orange invitation, and then another few, “here, take a few and ask your friends! Did I see you talking to Billy Hargrove? Are you friends with him?”

Lisa took the handful of invitations that were shoved into her palms, “the new guy? Oh, no. I just met him today.”

“Oh, shame,” Tina pouted, but then her bright smile returned. “You could come over a bit earlier if you want? We could get ready together? Your hair and makeup is always immaculate with a capital I. Let me know!”

“Yeah, that would be great, I’ll let you know,” Lisa grinned. “See you in biology!”

Lisa said goodbye to Tina, and then slid an invitation into Steve’s locker as she walked past.

She intercepted Jonathan and Nancy in the hallway and showed them the invitations, “Tina’s having a Halloween party, wanna come?”

Jonathan cringed, “er-”

“You're coming,” Nancy said, taking an invitation from Lisa and shoving it into his hands.

“‘Come and get sheet faced,’” he quoted and they laughed as they walked.

“You should come because of that pun alone,” Lisa said, nudging him playfully.

“Yeah! It would be so much fun!” Nancy laughed.

“Hey, Nance, remember the last time we went out for Halloween? In Freshman year when we dressed as the Pink Ladies?” Lisa looked from Nancy to Jonathan with a grin. “Nancy, Barb and I-”

Lisa cut herself off, her smile falling, and Nancy reached down to squeeze her hand comfortingly.

Nancy had sat her down shortly after Christmas to tell her everything she’d learned last year, about the Upside Down, and about Barb being dead. She was glad to get away to her dad’s with Dustin for New Years, to escape from it all for a while.

Lisa still had a hard time coming to terms with it, that her friend was dead. Though she had a feeling that a part of her always knew Barb wasn’t coming back, especially learning the truth about where Will had been. And what that girl, Eleven, had seen. Lisa was still trying to wrap her mind around everything Dustin had told her about the girl, where she’d come from and what she could do.

“Ahem, anyway. Jonathan you should come tomorrow night,” Lisa said, changing the subject as a painful lump grew in her throat at the memory of Barb, and knowing she’d never see her again.

“No way,” he said firmly.

Nancy groaned, “oh come on! We can’t let you sit all alone on Halloween!”

“We just can’t, it’s not acceptable,” Lisa agreed.

“You’re both relentless,” Jonathan said with a fond shake of his head. “But anyway, you can relax. I’m not gonna be alone.”

“What?” Nancy asked far too quickly, and Lisa glanced at her out of the corner of her eye, surprised.

“Um, I’m going trick-or-treating with Will,” he explained.

“All night?” Lisa asked, putting a finger to each temple. “Because my psychic abilities tell me that those boys will be home by ten o’clock so they can eat their weight in candy and watch the showing of Poltergeist on TV.”

“Your psychic abilities, or Dustin?” Jonathan mumbled, rolling his eyes.

Nancy smirked at Jonathan, “even better than that, you’re gonna be home by eight, listening to the Talking Heads and…reading Vonnegut or something.”

Lisa snorted at the accuracy of Nancy’s statement while Jonathan rolled his eyes, “that actually sounds like a nice night.”

Nancy sighed dramatically, “Jonathan, just come. I mean, who knows, you might even, like…meet someone.”

Just then Steve came around the corner and literally swept Nancy off her feet.

Jonathan backed away and so did Lisa, looking away quickly when they started making out against the lockers.

Jonathan nudged Lisa with his arm and gestured to the hallway with a tilt of his head, and silently she walked with him towards the cafeteria.

It had become a habit for Lisa and Jonathan since school had started back, to disappear together whenever Nancy and Steve started kissing, or seemed to forget they were there.

They never had to have a conversation about it, it was an unspoken agreement. Lisa didn’t ask Jonathan about it, and Jonathan didn’t ask her about it. It was for the best, since Lisa didn’t have a reason for walking away. Though, neither did Jonathan, as far as she knew.

There were some things she didn’t want to know about, anyway.

She’d ask Nancy how things were going with Steve and beyond ‘they’re going great!’ she didn’t want details, and she wasn’t sure if that made her a bad friend or not.

Lisa knew that if it were some random guy, and not Steve, she’d be asking for all the gory details. But she really, really didn’t want to know about whatever her and Steve got up to.

She put it down to having known Steve so well years ago. And she figured it was also because of the slow pace they were both taking while rebuilding their friendship. She didn’t want to know more than she had to, or for something to come up that would make things awkward between them again.

She knew the two of them were going to the Hollands’ house for dinner that evening, which Lisa outright refused to participate in. She couldn’t bear the thought of lying to grieving parents’ faces about the fate of their daughter, no matter how much she missed Barb or how well she knew her parents.

She figured Nancy was a much stronger person than she was to be able to do it.

The following afternoon while sitting at a table with them in the library, Lisa didn’t bring it up, and neither did Nancy or Steve.

Instead, she distracted herself by trying to figure out her calculus homework. Nancy got up to sharpen her pencil after breaking the lead, and Lisa glanced up at Steve to see him visibly stressing over his own homework.

“You okay, Steve?”

He looked up in surprise and then he frowned, “I can’t figure this out, I’ve been staring at it for ten minutes.”

“Want me to have a look?”

He considered it and then nodded, sliding his notepad over to her. She spent a few moments looking over the algebra and then slid it back to him, pointing at one of the figures. “X equals 1 here, not 2. Here, try it now.”

He looked at her briefly and then glanced over it, realisation dawning on his face. “Great, thanks, Lise.”

She nodded and smiled at him, and he looked up again and met her eye, smiling back at her.

They’d become better, albeit cautious friends in the ten months since Christmas, and she hadn’t realised how easy it would be to fall back into a familiar friendship with Steve.

She hadn’t ever expected them to talk again, let alone spend time together on purpose.

But her guard was still up, and she didn’t want to raise her hopes only for them to be dashed again, and she could tell that Steve was giving her space and time to adjust.

She cleared her throat, “you can ask Nancy for help, you know. She wouldn’t mind.”

He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, “yeah, I just don’t want her to think I’m like, stupid, or something.”

Lisa held his gaze intently, “you’re not stupid, and Nancy doesn’t think so either.”

He just shrugged and looked back down at his work, and Lisa turned to glance over at Nancy who was in a world of her own while sharpening her pencil.

“Steve,” Lisa nudged his leg under the table with her foot, and when he met her eye she nodded in Nancy’s direction.

He looked over and understood her meaning right away, then he got up and went over to her to make sure she was okay.

After a minute, Steve came back over to the table with Nancy in tow, “we’ll be back in a minute, okay?”

Lisa nodded and went back to her homework, knowing exactly what Nancy was thinking about.

Every girl with short red hair and glasses was Barb, every laugh at a dumb science joke was Barb, and every helping hand when she needed it without any questions asked, was Barb.

Lisa wiped her eyes on her sleeve, trying to distract herself with her homework. When that didn’t work, she packed up her things and left, figuring she wasn’t going to be able to focus on anything else that day.

Before she left, she wrote a small note on a scrap of paper and left it on Nancy’s notebook saying, ‘headed home, see you at Tina’s! P.S I’ll be the devil in red!’ with a little devil doodled on the bottom.

Lisa figured it was time to act like a teenager, and try to enjoy herself. 

After all, if Barb's death had taught her anything, it was that life could be too short, and that she ought to make the most of it.

Chapter Text

Lisa looked at herself in the mirror of Tina's bathroom. She'd agreed to get there early to get ready in Tina's room, and while Tina and her friends, apart from Carol, had been so welcoming, she felt very out of place.

Tina, thankfully, snapped at Carol whenever she said anything even slightly rude to Carol. She privately told Lisa that they were only friends because their moms were.

Lisa zipped up the side of her dress, pulling up the frilly straps. She wore a dark red velvet party dress that was probably too short, but she did her best not to care. Instead, she focused on how the dress hugged her curves, both at her hips and her chest. Then she put the hairband with the devil horns on and fluffed out her dark brown curls around it. Nancy was coming as an angel as per their agreement to coordinate with costumes.

She stared at herself, not used to wearing anything that wasn't a sweater or t-shirt with jeans, and straightened up trying to feign confidence. She was used to telling Nancy how great she looked in anything she looked, but noticeable curves had come in recently that she was still getting used to.

"Henderson, you fought a goddamn monster, you can handle one stupid party in a small dress," she told herself in the mirror. "You look fine. No, you- you look...well, good."

With one last look at herself she flung open the bathroom door and walked down the stairs - in boots because she didn't trust herself in heels - with a new purpose: let loose, and have real, stupid fun.

She could hear the noise of the party from the top of the stairs, but it was only when she got to the kitchen that she saw how many people had turned up.

She quickly went to the kitchen island, grabbed a small but full cup of wine. She drank the cheap drink in one go with a grimace and then grabbed another.

"Oh my god, Lisa! You look so hot!" Tina ran over and threw her arms around Lisa, smacking a kiss to her cheek. "Where've you been hiding that body! You're gonna turn so many heads tonight, I just know it!"

"Thanks, Tina," Lisa chuckled, already feeling the effects of downing that wine. "This is such a good party, and I've only been here for twenty minutes."

Tina grinned, "my parents are so gonna kill me when they come back from their trip, but it'll be worth it! Come hang out with us outside, I've warned Carol to keep her claws in for the night."

Lisa laughed, "let's see how long that lasts."

"An hour, tops," Tina shrugged. "By the way, I haven't seen Steve and Nancy yet so let's head to the dance floor for a bit!"

Lisa nodded and Tina took her by the hand and led her outside, where the sounds of cheering hit them like a tidal wave. Once out there, they saw a long-haired guy being held upside-down, chugging beer directly from a keg.

Once he was let down, he wiped his face and Lisa's eyes trailed down his bare chest, only barely covered by a leather jacket.

"Well, damn," Lisa said, and it was only when Tina giggled that she realised she'd said it out loud.

"We've got ourselves a new Keg King!" Tommy yelled in glee, and the whole crowd chanted Billy Hargrove's name.

"That's how you do it, Hawkins!" Billy roared, and more cheers reverberated around the garden.

His eyes landed on her, and their gazes locked, his face relaxing into an easy smile as he gave her a nod of acknowledgement.

Lisa's eyes widened and she steered herself and Tina directly to the dancefloor.

Tina gave her an amused look, "well, well, well. That was interesting."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lisa said, feigning innocence. "Come on, let's dance."

They met with a group of others from their year and danced for a while, loud pop music blaring from the enormous speakers.

After about half an hour, Tina nudged her and nodded pointedly over Lisa's shoulder before smiling and walking away, but not before offering her another cup of cheap wine.

Lisa looked over her shoulder and saw that Billy was walking directly towards her. With a squeak of panic that made Tina laugh, she turned her head back and took the cup of wine, taking a quick drink.

Tina took her by the shoulders and turned her around to face Billy who looked very amused.

"Have fuuuun!" Tina said in a sing-song voice as she skipped away.

When Billy reached her he stopped barely a foot away from her, eyeing her appreciatively.

"Hey there."

She felt her face growing hot under his gaze, "hey."

He gave her a crooked smile and looked at her red-stained lips for a brief moment, and Lisa really hoped that her gloss hadn't smudged all over her face.

Lisa was vaguely aware of Steve and Nancy having arrived at the party. They were standing on the edge of the dancefloor across from them and watching the conversation, Steve scowling and Nancy looking worried, but curious.

She pushed them out of her mind and turned her focus back to Billy.

"You look damn good, Lisa," Billy said with a smile, looking her up and down.

"You remembered my name," she said, slightly breathless.

"'Course, I did. I mean, just look at you," Billy said with a smirk, his hand warm as he slowly wrapped it around hers, and she felt herself relaxing.

"Are you flirting with me?" she asked, playfully narrowing her eyes.

He chuckled, "do you want me to be?"

"You're very confident, I'll give you that," she said, her eyes darting to his slightly parted lips.

He took a step even closer to her until he was right in her space, smiling down at her, his blue eyes twinkling under dark lashes. He slid a hand around her waist and she smiled, trying not to notice her heartbeat quickening.

—

Across the dancefloor, Nancy watched Lisa who was getting increasingly closer and familiar with Billy Hargrove, but what really surprised her was how angry Steve was getting as he stood next to her.

"You okay, Steve?" she asked him, tugging on his sleeve.

His eyes didn't leave Lisa and Billy, "what the hell does he think he's doing?"

Nancy chuckled, "oh, I don't know, getting to know our lovely and gorgeous friend?"

He shook his head, "this isn't funny Nancy. He's a creep, I can tell."

"We both know Lisa can take care of herself-"

"Yeah, well, she shouldn't be hanging around with a guy like that," he scowled. "Look at him, you can tell he's trying to- y'know...And they've met, like, twice?"

Nancy's smile faded, "it's fine, Steve. Why shouldn't she have a bit of fun? We can't be the only ones of our friends who get to...you know."

Steve finally looked at her, "what, so you think it's fine if she fools around with some guy she barely knows? Judging by how shameless he is, he's had a lot of 'fun' with girls. He's just gonna mess her around."

Nancy shrugged, "what if she wants to fool around with him? She's not naive, she sees people for what they are far better than the rest of us do."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Steve asked, brows furrowed.

Nancy rolled her eyes, "nothing! I just mean that she can fool around with some random guy if she wants. Why shouldn't she? We just need to be good friends, make sure she's okay, and support her. Right?"

Steve didn't answer, he just clenched his jaw as Billy slid his hand around Lisa's waist, brushing his fingers across the fabric of her dress.

Nancy took Steve by the arm, "right, Steve?"

"What?"

Nancy sighed, "I know you're feeling protective, but she deserves to let loose. We'll just keep an eye for any signs of trouble, from a distance."

Steve nodded and gave her an apologetic look as he turned his back on Lisa and Billy. "You're right, Nance. I'm sorry. Let's go enjoy this party, yeah?"

Nancy's happy smile returned as he took her hand and led her across to the open patio doors.

—

On the dancefloor, Lisa was smiling coyly up at Billy, aware that between each wisecrack, he was getting closer and closer to her.

"Did you leave many broken hearts behind in California?" she asked him, feeling like she could barely breathe in the air that was heating rapidly between them.

He gave her a wolfish grin, "been asking around about me, have you?"

"Maybe," she said, smiling into her cup of wine as she took a sip. "Maybe not."

He let out a sigh, "long story short, my dad got married to his girlfriend, we moved here. Shittier weather but...hotter girls, apparently."

She tilted her head back in a laugh, "you're unbelievable."

He watched her laughing, and smiled. Then, he leaned in close to whisper into her ear, "nah, I just know how to go after what I want."

He lifted the hand he'd had on her waist and reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear, and rested his hand on the side of her neck.

"And you want...me?" she asked, feeling the buzz of the alcohol in her veins giving her an edge of confidence.

He finished his beer and leaned over her to put the cup down on a nearby table, and then he took her by the hips in both hands, pulling her a bit closer.

"The second I saw you, studying in your car, blowing those curly bangs out of your face," he gave her a slanted, coy grin. "Well, I just had to know more."

Here was this gorgeous, mysterious boy, noticing little things about her, and Lisa hardly knew what to do with herself.

She held his eye as she finished off her wine and dropped the cup onto the table behind her, "well, what do you want to know?"

Billy quirked a brow, his eyes dropping to her lips again, "anything, everything. I want to know about that mouth for one."

Lisa didn't know if it was the alcohol, or the adrenaline coursing through her, but when he leaned in for a kiss, she let him.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and the crowd roared as Billy kissed her, lifting her up as he did, making a show of it. And while it was definitely not her first kiss, it was definitely her most enjoyable.

Inside, Nancy was part of the crowd that roared in this silly celebration, glad to see her friend having fun and not worrying about everyone else for once. She tried to ignore how Steve had gone stock-still beside her as they watched on through the glass.

Lisa broke the kiss with a laugh and Billy set her back down on her feet, then held her face in his hand and chuckled, "what's so funny?"

"I would've thought that cheerleaders are more your type," she confessed and he quirked a brow.

"I like a girl who doesn't throw herself at me," he answered.

"And I'm not throwing myself at you?" she asked. "Because I am like every other girl, you know."

"Nah," he said, kissing her again. "Cos you're making me work for it."

She chuckled and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and walked her inside to the living room while everyone around them cheered his name.

Lisa felt on top of the world, but she was also very aware that if not for the alcohol, she'd be feeling far more discomfort at being under the spotlight.

Another cup found itself into her hand, and Lisa frowned at it until she saw it was just from Tina, who nodded reassuringly at her.

She relaxed and blew her friend a kiss, and then drank it deeply.

More cheers erupted around them, and Billy laughed and kissed her jaw as she tilted her head back to finish it, "there you go, sweetheart."

She tossed the cup in the general direction of a trashcan and wrapped her arms behind his neck, and kissed him again. He slowly backed her against the living room wall behind her, his hands finding her ass, and she got lost in the feeling of him and his warm hands.

That was, until she heard Tommy H shouting, "see? We've got a new Keg King, Harrington!"

She broke the kiss at the sound of his name, sensing everyone's attention, including Steve's, and she straightened up and pushed away slightly from the wall.

Billy wrapped an arm around her shoulders, his other arm raised in a fist of triumph while people roared around them.

Lisa met Nancy's eyes across the room, her friend gave her an inquisitive look and she nodded, indicating that she was okay.

But then she met Steve's gaze, standing beside Nancy, and something stirred in her at the look on his face. She couldn't quite make sense of it, and she didn't really want to.

Cheeks flushing furiously, she leaned closer into Billy's side, and Steve's brows knit together, his expression tense.

Billy followed her gaze and smirked, and then he tightened his arm around her shoulders and kissed her again, right there in the middle of everyone

The crowd began chanting "Keg King Billy!" And Billy revelled in the spotlight, and Lisa tried to shy away from the attention, but he held her tight into his side.

"And look, I've already got myself a queen! Isn't that right, sweetheart?" Billy said, stepping forward with Lisa in tow.

He leaned down to speak against her ear, "don't hide, gorgeous. Why shouldn't people be looking at you?"

"Leave her alone, man," came Steve's voice, and Billy straightened up, grinning.

"Why, Harrington? You're not jealous, are you? I think you're just used to all the girls flocking to you," Billy replied tauntingly.

"Nah, they don't like him anymore," Tommy sneered.

Lisa suddenly felt like she was involved in something that she definitely didn't want to be a part of anymore, which was a pissing contest between a bunch of boys.

"Lisa, are you alright?" Steve asked, ignoring Billy and Tommy and holding her gaze.

"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine," she said, sounding more exasperated than she'd intended.

Billy scoffed at him, "'course she's alright, Harrington, she's with me."

Nancy raised her brows at Lisa who nodded and smiled reassuringly at her friend, who smiled back.

At least they could have a silent conversation while the boys were needlessly throwing their weight around.

Billy stared at Steve for a moment longer and then looked down at her, "c'mon, sweetheart, let's go get some more drinks."

Lisa nodded, then glanced at Nancy, "I'll see you guys in a bit."

Steve didn't reply. He just watched Lisa's retreating back, and Nancy watched him.

"So, what's your beef with Steve?" Lisa asked Billy as they got to the barrel full of ice and beer bottles. She poured herself a drink from the wine box on the table, and also poured herself a water which she quickly drank, wanting to clear her foggy mind a bit.

He shrugged, "no beef, I just think he should be taken down a peg or two."

"Or three!" Tommy said lamely from beside them.

Lisa gave him a withering look and Billy looked over his shoulder, "get lost, man."

Tommy hesitated but nodded and scurried away with a pathetic look on his face.

"So, where were we," Billy said with a smouldering smile, leaning in close to her again.

Lisa took a sip of the water she'd poured into her cup and smiled up at him, "I don't know, you tell me."

"Or I could show you," Billy said, and then he leaned down to kiss her again. After a few minutes of making out, Lisa felt his hands travelling down to her ass, and moving even further down to the hem of her dress.

She didn't break the kiss but pulled the hem of her dress down again, only for Billy's hands to find it again tugging at it but not lifting it again.

She pulled back from the kiss and cleared her throat, "I- um, this is all new to me."

"That's fine, I'll do whatever you want me to do," he whispered against her ear, and he pressed a kiss to her jaw that sent shivers down her spine.

She bit back a smile, and then Tina walked past with an airy grace, "top floor, second bedroom on the left."

She said nothing else but winked at Lisa over her shoulder. Lisa giggled and ducked her head, but Billy tilted her chin back up with his finger.

"Don't do that."

"Do what?" she asked.

"Don't hide your face," he said, and then raised an eyebrow, looking over her shoulder to the stairs. "So...what do you say? Should we explore the house?"

Lisa felt a giddiness rising in her chest, and she leaned up to kiss him, and then she stepped back, "I could...um, I could meet you up there in a couple minutes?"

Billy gave her a wide grin, and then kissed her deeply, making her legs feel like jelly, "sounds good to me."

With that, he walked away, winking at her over his shoulder as he headed towards the stairs.

Lisa giggled and covered her face, and then hurried over to Nancy and Steve who were standing at the punch bowl.

She grabbed Nancy by the hand and pulled her to the side for some privacy, "I have news."

Nancy's face lit up, meeting her excited smile, "spill."

"I'm...I'm going upstairs. With Billy," Lisa whispered, raising her eyebrows meaningfully.

Catching her hidden message, Nancy squealed and flung her arms around her friend.

"Oh my God!!!" Nancy whispered excitedly, and then pulled back and held Lisa by the shoulders. "Don't do anything you don't want to do. And have fun."

Lisa's face grew hot and her face hurt from smiling, "I really want to, but I'm nervous."

Nancy nodded, "everyone is, the first time. Trust me." She gave Lisa a conspiratorial grin and adjusted the devil horns on her friend's head.

Lisa giggled again, "okay, this is really happening. I'll, uh, see you later, I guess!"

Nancy watched with a grin as Lisa hurried up the stairs.

Following Tina's directions, Lisa slowly opened the door to find Billy sitting on the bed. This was clearly Tina's eldest sister's old room, but it was perfect.

"Hey," he said, looking up as she entered, and he ran his tongue over his bottom lip as he watched her.

"Hey," she answered and she closed the door behind her, locking it.

He grinned and held out a hand to her, she smiled shyly and approached the bed.

Chapter Text

“What was that all about?” Steve asked, approaching Nancy as Lisa walked away. But he realised what was going on as he watched Lisa hurrying towards the stairs, to follow Billy.

“Well, Lisa is meeting Billy in an upstairs bedroom,” Nancy said, pouring another cup of punch.

“You’re kidding,” Steve said flatly.

“Nope, and she was nervous so I was giving her a pep talk,” Nancy said with a smile.

Steve didn’t return her smile, “she shouldn’t do it if she’s nervous!”

Nancy rolled her eyes, “Steve, everyone is nervous when it’s their first time.”

She didn’t know what she was expecting, but it wasn’t for Steve’s face to fall like that.

Nancy noticed with a jolt that she wasn’t hurt by it, no pang of jealousy at all. In fact, she hadn’t felt jealous all evening, but angry that it only added to her own confusing thoughts.

If she was honest with herself, she’d had her own complicated thoughts in her mind for a while now, about losing Barb and the guilt she felt, and how she sometimes found her mind drifting to Jonathan…and her lack of jealousy at how closely Steve was paying attention to Lisa and Billy tonight only made things more messy in her head.

To make things worse, she knew she should be happy with Steve, but she looked at him and was reminded of the night that Barb went missing, and felt overcome by guilt.

You could’ve been with her that night, but instead you were fooling around with Steve. It was a constant thought in her head. If not for you, Barb might still be-

“Just…let it go, okay? I’m getting another drink,” Nancy said, pulling the halo hairband off her head and dumping it in the trashcan nearby. She didn’t wait for him to respond as she walked back over to the punchbowl.

She glanced over to the guy standing next to it, “so, what’s actually in this?”

“Pure fuel!” he yelled. “Pure. Fuel! Whoo!!”

Nancy poured herself a full cup, and downed it in one, and then poured another.

“Woah, you okay, Nance?” Steve asked, now standing next to her.

She smiled tightly, “yeah, fine!”

She lifted the cup to her lips, and she was halfway through chugging it down when Steve spoke up, “hey, whoa, whoa! Take it easy! Nance- Nance!”

“We’re just being stupid teenagers for the night. Wasn’t that the deal?” Nancy shot back, and then she finished the rest of the drink, giving him a challenging glare.

She filled her cup again, looked at Steve, and then walked out onto the dancefloor.

Steve let out a long breath, looked back towards the stairs, and then followed Nancy back into the fray.

They danced for a while, and Steve tried not to keep his gaze from returning to the stairs, but he failed. Multiple times. Nancy noticed, but ignored him as she finished off one drink and then went to get another, and then another.

When she left to get her third refill in forty minutes, Steve groaned and followed her, and tried to stop her from filling up her cup again, “no, no, no.”

“Get off!” she snapped at him, holding her cup out of his reach, but he took it anyway.

“No, you’ve had enough, okay?” He walked away with the cup but she snatched it back from him.

“Screw you!”

Steve was bewildered, but he shook his head, “Nance, come on. I’m serious.”

He once again tried to stop her as she filled her cup from the punch bowl, “hey, hey, stop! I’m serious! Put it down!”

Nancy held firm to her cup, “no!”

“Nance, put it down!”

“Steve, stop!” Nancy raised her voice, and then Steve’s grip on the cup slipped, and the red liquid sloshed all over Nancy’s chest.

Steve stared in shock as her white angel costume went bright red all down the front, and the room erupted in a mixture of drunken cheers and taunts.

Nancy slowly looked back up at Steve and glared at him, “what the hell?”

She stormed past him and ran to the bathroom at the top of the stairs, and Steve hurried after her, “Nance, come on!”

Meanwhile, Lisa closed the bedroom door and walked down the stairs from the top floor behind Billy, grinning like an idiot.

He kissed her when they were halfway down the stairs, then raised a brow at her, “I sure hope to see you again sometime.”

Lisa grinned and nodded, “you will.”

He’d told her he needed to be back for his curfew, alluding to having an asshole for a father. So she waved at him as he headed the rest of the way down the stairs, smiling over his shoulder at her.

She smiled to herself and then slowly walked down the next few steps onto the next floor, and that was when she heard Steve trying to placate Nancy through the half-open bathroom door, and she knew she should’ve kept walking but she didn’t.

“-like it’s great…like..like we’re in love, and we’re partying- yeah…let’s party, we’re partying…it’s bullshit.” Nancy was clearly very drunk, and Lisa didn’t know how she could’ve gotten that bad in the time she’d been gone.

“‘Like we’re in love’?” Steve repeated, sounding devastated.

“It’s bullshit,” Nancy repeated.

“Y-you don’t love me?” Steve asked, and Lisa’s hand went to her mouth.

She had to get out of there, this was not a conversation for her ears. She quickly made her way to the next flight of stairs when she heard the bathroom door slam against the side of the bathtub as it opened abruptly.

Steve froze at the sight of her, barely halfway down the stairs, and Nancy frowned as she leaned on the doorframe.

“Now, see? You can st-stop looking for her. Just..it’s-it’s all bullshit,” she ranted, waving a hand in Lisa’s direction.

Steve stared at Nancy, looking heartbroken, and Lisa slowly went up a step.

Steve looked away from Nancy, and walked down the first few steps, stopping on the step below Lisa, so he was face to face with her.

“Steve?” Lisa asked. “Are you…?”

“You’re okay? Good,” he said, and then he gestured in Nancy’s general direction. “I can’t, I just-”

Lisa put a hand on his shoulder, “go, get some air. I’ll look after her.”

He held her gaze, and then looked away, walking the rest of the way down the stairs.

Lisa turned to Nancy, who was now clinging to the sink for dear life, and she joined her friend in the bathroom.

She took Nancy’s hands and led her to the toilet, sitting her down on the closed lid, “stay here, I’ll be right back.”

She hurried to Tina’s bedroom where she’d brought a bag with her costume and makeup, and picked up the sweater she’d been wearing before changing.

Back in the bathroom, Lisa locked the door and picked up the wet towel that Nancy had been using to get the spilled drink from her top and rinsed it out. She guided Nancy to sit on the floor next to the warm radiator, and used the damp towel to wipe away Nancy’s streaked mascara.

Nancy watched Lisa with an unfocused gaze and then suddenly burst into tears.

“I-I don’t deserve him,” she cried, leaning her head back on the radiator.

“Don’t talk like that, Nance,” Lisa told her, wiping away the fresh streaks of makeup.

“But he’s right,” Nancy whispered, “I’m the bullshit. Me. Because, b-because I don’t love him.”

Lisa froze, staring at Nancy, “you’re drunk. You don’t mean it, let’s get you changed.”

Nancy allowed her to pull off her ruined white top, and held up her arms when Lisa redressed her in the sweater.

Nancy took Lisa firmly by the face, “he kept looking at the stairs…and I didn’t care.”

“I don’t understand,” Lisa shook her head, and then Nancy burst into fresh sobs.

“It’s my fault that…that Barb is gone,” she wailed, and Lisa pulled her into a hug right there on the floor, rubbing her back.

Jonathan walked through the party with only a few awkward encounters, and then he found Steve sitting on the bottom step of the stairs.

“Steve?”

Steve looked up with wet eyes, and Jonathan frowned at the state of him.

“Oh. Hey, man,” Steve said, dragging his sleeve over his eyes and putting his black shades on.

“Somethin’ happen?” Jonathan asked carefully.

Steve gestured vaguely up the stairs, “Lisa’s with Nancy, I just…I couldn’t look at her anymore.” He stood up and before Jonathan could ask any questions, Steve clapped him on the back and then headed outside, lighting a cigarette as he went.

Jonathan wondered if Steve and Lisa were fighting again, and he tried to figure out what could’ve happened between them that would’ve made Steve so upset, that he didn’t want to look at her anymore. He figured Nancy would be able to shed some light on what was going on.

He knocked on the bathroom door, “Lisa? Nancy? It’s Jonathan.”

After a brief moment, the door unlocked and he was ushered in. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but it wasn’t Nancy with her head in a toilet bowl.

Lisa settled back on the floor next to her, taking the hair elastic from where Nancy had half her hair tied back, and tied it all up on the back of her head. She rubbed Nancy’s back as her friend cried into the toilet, and then turned to look at Jonathan who was still standing, stunned by what he was seeing.

“How did you find us?” Lisa said simply.

“Steve,” Jonathan answered.

Lisa grimaced, “did you talk to him? Did he seem-?”

“Upset? Miserable? Yep,” Jonathan answered, sitting down across from Lisa, his back against the bathtub. “He went straight outside, didn’t stay to talk.”

Lisa groaned, “he and Nancy had this huge fight…it sounded bad.”

She looked at the door and then at Nancy, and Jonathan cleared his throat, “I’ll keep an eye on her if you wanna do some damage control? Or I could drive her back to her house?”

Lisa gave Nancy another look and nodded, “that’s probably a good idea, you sure it’s okay?”

Jonathan gave her an incredulous look, “of course, Lise. Do what you gotta do, I’ll make sure she’s okay. I’ll tell her parents she got food poisoning from bad takeout or something.”

Lisa smiled gratefully, then reached over to peel Nancy away from the toilet, “Nance, Jonathan is here, he’s gonna take you home, okay?”

Nancy blinked blearily at Jonathan and nodded.

“Want help taking her to your car?”

Jonathan shook his head, “I’ll manage. I’ll call you tomorrow?”

Lisa got to her feet and ruffled his hair, “thanks, Byers.”

“Happy to save the day, Henderson,” he answered with a smile and a two-fingered salute.

It didn’t take long for Lisa to find Steve, smoking on a swing bench at the back of the garden, away from the rest of the party.

He glanced up as she approached and put the cigarette out, then looked down at his hands.

“Hey,” she said, “mind if I sit here?”

He shook his head and moved over so she could sit down.

“Wanna talk about it?” she asked.

He shook his head, “not really.”

She nodded, “okay.”

Instead of saying anything else, she just sat with him, keeping him company. After a few minutes, Steve leaned forward with his face in his hands.

Lisa turned to him, “I heard what she said, and I’m sorry.”

He wasn’t crying but he had tears in his eyes, “yeah, me too.”

“She didn’t know what she was saying, she was drunk,” Lisa told him. “I couldn't even make sense of what she was saying.”

Steve shook his head, “it’s not just that she said that, or, that she didn’t tell me I was wrong, it’s that I…I wasn’t even surprised. She’s been pulling back from me for a while, and I don’t know why. And tonight she said everything was bullshit, that I was bullshit, that we were ‘pretending to be fine and in love’.”

“She was drunk, she didn’t mean it,” Lisa said gently, trying to calm him down.

“Yeah, well, sounded pretty damn sincere to me,” he replied bitterly as he sat back in the seat, then he softened. “Sorry, this is probably weird for you, she’s your best friend.”

“She is,” Lisa said, “but I know what she can be like, and you’re…my friend too.”

Steve smiled softly at that, and nodded.

Lisa took a breath and continued, “I think Nancy is finding it hard, lying to Barb’s parents. I knew I couldn’t do it so I took a step back, but Nancy…well you know her, she can’t let things go.”

Steve was quiet for a while, and then he spoke again, “is she okay now?”

Lisa laughed humourlessly, “well, as okay as anyone can be after spending fifteen minutes with her head in a toilet puking her guts up.”

Steve’s eyes went wide and he went to stand up but Lisa put her hand on his arm before he could move, “don’t panic. Jonathan’s bringing her home, before he goes to collect the boys from-”

Steve groaned and rubbed a hand down his face, “Jonathan is- that should’ve been me bringing her back home, not sulking out here-”

“Hey,” Lisa interrupted, “don’t do that to yourself. You’re allowed to be upset.”

He nodded, and then looked at her, opening his mouth before closing it.

She rolled her eyes and sat back on the bench, “just ask, if you really want to.”

Steve flushed, “it’s not that- jeez, I’m…are you- like, are you good?”

She smiled and sighed, “yes, for the millionth time, I’m good.”

He didn’t seem satisfied, in fact he frowned, “Hargrove seems…I dunno, there’s just something about him.”

Lisa narrowed her eyes, “you don’t know him!”

Steve’s brows pinched together, “and you do!?”

Lisa shrugged, “I mean, I’d say I know him quite well after-”

“Jesus,” Steve interrupted, standing up. He paced a bit, agitated. and ran his hand through his hair.

Lisa stared incredulously at him, “what? What’s the problem?”

Steve continued pacing, “problem? There’s no problem!”

“There’s clearly a fucking problem, Steve, so spit it out!” Lisa snapped back.

Steve threw his arms up in the air, “he’s not good enough for you, Lisa!”

She was shocked into silence, which didn’t happen very often.

He stared at her, appearing as shocked at his own words as she was.

She saw the honest torment on his face, and considering the night he’d just had, she felt her heart swell at how he’d still managed to find time to worry about her.

She folded her arms around herself against the chilly night air, “you’re really taking this friend thing seriously, huh?”

He blinked at her, and slow smiles grew on their faces simultaneously. Then he saw how she was trying to warm herself against the cold.

“Jeez, Lisa,” he immediately shrugged off the black leather jacket he’d been wearing over a white t-shirt, and draped it over her while she put her arms through the sleeves.

She gave him a grateful smile and then eyed the jacket, and then the rest of his outfit, “no way, Danny Zuko?”

He smirked as he sat back down next to her, “well, I had to think of something when you and Nancy decided to coordinate and she turned down my Risky Business suggestion,”

“Well, this Plan B costume turned out well,” she said, and he matched her smile with his own. “Do you remember…”

“When we went to see Grease in the movie theatre the week we met?” he finished with a grin. “I remember. I still haven’t forgiven you for eating pretty much all of my popcorn.”

Without thinking, she backhanded him playfully on the arm with a laugh, “shut up, I did not.”

“You did, I still have the teary-eyed photobooth photos to prove it,” he said, holding up his hands.

She gaped at him, “if I remember correctly, we were both smiling in them. If anything, you took most of the popcorn and got it stuck in your braces.”

Steve snorted, “touché. But there is one thing you could do to make it up to me.”

She folded her arms, giving him a challenging glare, “oh, do tell.”

His face softened a bit, and he ran his hand self-consciously through his dark hair, “do you think you could…tutor me in algebra?”

Lisa was extremely surprised, but she hid it quickly, “er- yeah, sure. I can do that.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “But, just out of curiosity, why me and not Nancy?”

He flushed, “it’s stupid, really, but I feel embarrassed when I don’t know things around her. She doesn’t do it on purpose, but she’s just so smart and- not that you’re not equally as smart, shit, that’s not what I meant. You are smart. Very smart, actually.” He waved his hands animatedly as he panicked.

“Thanks.”

“But anyway, I just- you’re easy to talk to, you know? I feel like I could tell you anything and you’d listen, but whenever I try to talk to Nancy about something, her mind is miles away.”

Lisa smiled, “that’s Nancy. Her mind is always on, like, a hundred things at once.”

She sighed and lay back on the chair while Steve’s long legs guided it in a slow swing. “Just talk to her, Steve. Tell her everything you’re feeling, lay it all on the table. You guys will work through it.”

“Do you…” Steve began as he searched her face, “do you think we should work through it?”

Lisa’s brows furrowed, “of course, why wouldn’t I think that?”

Steve shook his head, embarrassed, “nevermind, stupid question. But yeah maybe I’ll talk to her, but I won’t lie I’m still pretty pissed at her.”

Lisa nodded, “honestly, you should be.”

He was quiet for a moment before he spoke again, “it’s weird to think how things were a year ago, isn’t it? I was an asshole and you hated me, rightfully so, and I didn’t believe in monsters.”

Lisa chuckled, “a lot has changed. But you seem more yourself now.”

He considered that for a minute and nodded, “I guess I am more myself now.”

She gave him a genuine smile, and he felt himself holding her gaze for a beat too long.

He cleared his throat, “um, it’s late. I drove here so I can take you home? To your house, not mine.”

She laughed and nodded, “that would be great, thanks.”

He nodded and stood up, and then held out his hand to pull her out of the swing seat, and just like that, the most dramatic party of their lives to date was over.

Chapter Text

Lisa got home from the Halloween party shortly after Dustin had gotten back from Lucas’ house, after Trick-or-Treating, and she was glad that she’d mostly sobered up by the time she got home. She gave Steve a wave as he pulled out of her driveway, and headed inside and sat with her mom for a bit.

“I’m glad you had a good night, honey. Dusty must’ve eaten too much candy, he’s acting very weird,” her mom said worriedly, stroking Mews who sat on her lap. The cat was definitely glaring at Lisa as she stood up and walked over.

“Mom, he’s always acting weird. He’s fine, don't worry,” she leaned down to kiss her mom on the cheek and said goodnight.

Before she could head down the hall, her mom called out to her again, “honey?”

“Yes, Mom?”

“I’m glad you’re getting out and enjoying yourself a bit more, but…just be safe, okay?” she said, giving her daughter a meaningful look, brows raised.

“Um, yeah, of course,” Lisa said, edging closer towards the hallway.

“So, you spent time with a boy tonight?” Claudia Henderson was always eager for a bit of gossip.

Lisa cringed, “um, yeah, just talking with a boy.”

“And talking with this boy is what smudged your lipstick, yes?”

Lisa was horrified, and she opened and closed her mouth like a fish, speechless.

“Well, anyone I know?” Claudia’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. “Was it Ste-”

“No. The new guy. Billy,” Lisa said quickly, feeling her cheeks burning.

Claudia seemed disappointed, and settled back into her seat with Mews, “oh well, that’s good. Make sure you give him back his jacket, nice of him to give you something against the cold. Maybe wear some tights with that dress next time, hm?”

Lisa looked down at the jacket, eyes wide, “yup, I will. Night, Mom.”

As soon as she was in her room, she took Steve’s jacket off and hung it on the back of her door.

She quickly changed into her pyjamas, and went to take off her makeup in the bathroom, and to her surprise, on her way back she heard Dustin talking in his room, no crackle of the radio to be heard.

She flung open the door and he screamed. Candy, socks, laundry hamper, all part of his explosion of chaos as he jumped across the room

Once he’d finished screaming, he stopped and stared at her, “oh, hey, Lisa! How are you, sister? Have a good night? Mine was great, and I’m going to bed, like, right now so-”

“What the hell, Dustin?” Lisa asked, interrupting her brother’s bullshit. She was glancing around his room when he waved a hand in front of her face.

“Uhh, hey, could you mind Yertle? I have his other tank in my closet, one second.” With that, he shoved his tortoise into her hands, and then pulled a small tank from his closet and pushed her out of his room and into hers across the hall.

He shoved the tank onto her dresser, knocking over some books and perfume bottles as he did so.

Then, he smiled brightly at her. “See? Perfect. I’m just, er- renovating his big tank.” He made a beeline for her door, “bye-Lisa-goodnight-love-you-bye!

And then he slammed her bedroom door shut behind him, which was followed by the bang of his own door shutting, which was followed by their mother giving out from the living room, “kids, no slamming doors in the house, please!”

Lisa stood in the middle of her bedroom and looked down at the tortoise in her hands that was now, apparently, in her care.

She lifted him to her eye-level, “well, Yertle, I guess you’re stuck with me for a while.”

—

Steve Harrington was a pretty good basketball player, and he was usually at the top of his game in gym class. At least, that was until Billy Hargrove started at Hawkins High School, and flipped his social standing upside down.

If Steve was honest with himself, he didn’t care that much. Popularity used to matter to him, but since fighting a literal monster, things were put into perspective for him. Like how he had every right to be upset with Nancy, about how somehow Lisa was now his favourite person to talk to despite everything, and how Billy-goddamn-Hargrove was making his life difficult for no apparent reason.

“Harrington! Good to see you again, pal. I’ve heard a lot about you since the party on Friday,” Billy said as he stood in a defensive position on the court while Steve tried to dribble the basketball past him. “I heard you used to run this school. That true? King Steve, they used to call you, huh? Then you turned bitch-”

“Hey, maybe you should just shut up and just play the game?” Steve retorted.

“I don’t know, man, I’m liking my standing in this school. And I’m really liking your pretty little friend Lisa Henderson-”

Steve shoved Billy out of the way, but Billy tripped him and he hit the floor hard. Billy sneered at him as he snatched the basketball, and scored a hoop within seconds.

“Whoo!” Billy cheered, “that’s what I’m talking about!”

Then he circled back around to Steve and leaned in close, “one thing’s for sure, you definitely missed out with that one. But your loss is my gain, so just stay outta my way. Cool?”

Steve stumbled to his feet and resisted the urge to punch Billy square in the face

“Steve?”

He immediately turned around to see Nancy standing there, and he deflated slightly for some reason.

Billy stepped up far too close to his shoulder, speaking low into his ear, “damn, Harrington. You seem almost…disappointed.”

Steve scowled but decided it was best to say nothing. Instead he walked towards Nancy and led her out of the entrance to the school gym.

Walking into the small alleyway next to the gym he folded his arms defensively, “what are you doing here?”

“What do you think?” Nancy retorted, furious at Steve for not collecting her for school, “where were you this morning? I missed first period! If you couldn’t make it I could’ve called Lisa and-”

“I figured Jonathan would take you,” he replied coolly.

Nancy stared at him, confused, “What…what are you talking about?”

Steve scoffed, “Jesus, you really can’t handle your alcohol. Uh, you remember going to Tina’s party last night, right?”

“Yes?”

“And then what?”

“I remember dancing and...spilling some punch, and you got mad at me because I was drunk…I talked to Lisa in the bathroom. And then you took me home,” Nancy said.

Steve scoffed, “no, see, that’s where your mind gets a little bit fuzzy. That was your other boyfriend. That was…that was Jonathan.”

“I don’t understand,” Nancy replied sharply, “I was with Lisa and-”

“It’s pretty simple, Nancy. You didn’t want to talk to me, Lisa tried to help you, but no Jonathan had to bring you home. Not me. And you were just telling it like it is, weren’t you?”

“What?”

“Uh, apparently we killed Barb, and I don’t care ‘cause I’m ‘bullshit’ but I’m the bad guy for caring about our friend hooking up with- with some guy...and our whole…our whole relationship is bullshit, and…I mean, pretty much everything is just bullshit, bullshit, bullshit!” At Steve’s words, Nancy stared in disbelief.

“Oh, yeah, also,” Steve continued bitterly, “you don’t love me”

Nancy scowled, “I was drunk, Steve! I don’t remember any of that! Just ask Lisa-”

“Oh, yeah, Lisa!” Steve nodded. “You know, last night was a pretty big deal for her. Do you even remember?”

Nancy shook her head, at a loss.

Steve huffed a bitter laugh, “yeah, ‘course you don’t. But, you know what, she still stood up for you, and convinced me that I should try and make this work.”

He gestured between them as he spoke, “but I guess she was wrong. ‘Cos it’s all just…what was the word? Bullshit.”

“I. Was. Drunk!” Nancy retorted.

“So that makes everything that you said…it’s what? Just bullshit, too?”

“Yes!”

“Well, then tell me,” Steve said plainly.

“Tell you what?” Nancy demanded.

“...you love me,” Steve replied, defeated. But Nancy couldn’t say it.

“Really?” she asked, trying to stall. Then, the gym door opened with a bang and the moment was gone.

Steve’s classmate yelled at him to come back inside and Steve stared at Nancy, giving her one last chance to say something, anything.

But she didn’t.

He walked away, “I think that you’re bullshit.”

—

At lunchtime Lisa sat cross-legged on the bonnet of Jonathan’s car with Nancy and Jonathan sitting on either side of her.

“…I’m just trying to understand,” Nancy said in exasperation, “so, he asked you to take me home?”

“No, Lisa did,” Jonathan replied, nodding his head to Lisa who hummed in agreement and Jonathan lowered his voice as he continued. “Steve didn’t really hang around to talk.”

“He was really upset, Nance,” Lisa added, giving her friend a meaningful look.

Nancy sighed sadly, “God, I’ve made a mess of everything, and now he hates me. I’m surprised you don’t hate me, Lisa.”

“Me?” Lisa asked.

Nancy gave her a puzzled look, “um, yeah you just told me about hooking up with-”

Lisa quickly put her hand over Nancy’s mouth, but Jonathan’s eyebrows shot up, “holy shit?”

Nancy gave her an apologetic look, and Lisa rolled her eyes and then put her face in her hands, to hide the flush that was undoubtedly creeping in.

“Wait- who? At the party?”

“Billy Hargrove.”

“The new kid?”

“Yeah!”

Lisa took her hands away from her face, “you know, just because my eyes were covered doesn’t mean I can’t hear your whispering.”

Her friends both shrugged innocently, and then Lisa shook her head, “anyway, onto more serious business.”

She turned her attention back to Nancy, “try and sort things out with Steve, Nance. He doesn’t hate you. He was still worried about you, after you guys left.”

Jonathan leaned forward across Lisa slightly, looking directly at Nancy, “yeah, you need to cut yourself some slack, okay?”

“He’s right,” Lisa agreed, and she gave Nancy's hand a comforting squeeze before letting go and sitting back again. “People say stupid things when they’re wasted, things they don’t mean.”

“Yeah, but that’s the thing,” Nancy said tearfully as she looked up at them both, “what if I did mean it?”

Lisa and Jonathan exchanged a brief, puzzled look, and Nancy continued, “all this time I’ve been trying so hard to pretend like everything’s fine, but it’s not. I…I feel like there’s this…I don’t know, like this…”

She trailed off and Jonathan nodded in understanding, “like there’s this weight you’re carrying with you. All the time. I feel it too.”

Lisa pulled her knees up and rested her chin on them, “me too. I…I have this routine that I have to do every night, I’ve to check that there’s nothing waiting for me in my closet or under my bed. I make sure my window is bolted shut, and I have an axe propped up between my bed and my desk, just in case. And even then, I can’t sleep through the night.”

Jonathan bumped his shoulder against hers in solidarity, “we’re all in the same boat.”

“But it’s different for you, isn’t it?” Nancy asked him, “Will came home.”

Jonathan sighed, “yeah, yeah he did. But he’s…he’s not the same. I try to be there for him, you know, to help him, but…I don’t know.”

Lisa rested her head on his shoulder as a gesture of reassurance, “you’re doing the best you can for him, Jonathan, you always have.”

Jonathan nodded, “I just don’t know if it’s enough.”

Lisa sighed, her head still on Jonathan’s shoulder, “maybe…maybe things just can’t go back to the way they were. Maybe we’re just going to have to live with this knowledge of monsters and parallel dimensions, and that’s just how things are going to be from now on.”

—

After school, Lisa was swapping out books to bring home for homework when a familiar voice spoke, and was accompanied by a hand on the small of her back.

“You busy tonight?”

Lisa was already smiling when she turned around, and Billy rested his arm above her head on the locker behind her.

“So you didn’t forget about me over the weekend, then?” she asked, teasing.

He chuckled and then kissed her, pressing her back against the lockers, and Lisa did her best to ignore some of the wolf-whistles from people walking past.

Pulling back from the kiss, he smiled at her, bumping his crooked finger against the underside of her chin, “does that answer your question?”

She pursed her lips in an attempt not to smile but she failed miserably, “I think it does, yeah.”

He leaned his shoulder against the lockers as she turned around to take books out.

“Anything fun happen after I left? I heard Wheeler really did a number on Harrington’s ego,” Billy said casually.

Lisa looked at him, “they had a fight, it happens.”

“He really doesn’t like me,” Billy said, but he looked more thrilled than not at the thought.

“You were taunting him a bit at the party,” Lisa said.

Billy frowned, “it was just a bit of fun. You’re definitely a sensitive topic for him, I’ll say that. You guys have a history I should know about?”

The change in his tone made Lisa stop re-arranging her books, “we were friends when we were younger, then we stopped being friends. Now we’re friends again. That’s all.”

Billy didn’t look convinced, “didn’t seem that simple to me.”

“Well, it is,” Lisa said, raising her eyebrows at him in a silent message to drop it.

Billy held up his hands in surrender and then his charming demeanor returned, “so, are you free tonight?”

She smiled and checked her watch, “I could spare a few hours before I’ve to be home for dinner.”

He flashed a grin and kissed her, “meet me at my car? I’ll drop you home afterwards.”

“After what, exactly?” she asked him, blinking innocently at him.

He snickered and crowded her against the locker again, his hand sliding under her sweater to trace across her waist, making her gasp slightly.

“After I have you making some more of those noises like you did on Friday night,” he whispered against her ear, and she bit her lip.

He pulled back, putting his hands behind his back and giving her an expectant look.

She coughed and gave him an amused look, “I’ll meet you at your car. Where are you parked?”

“The middle school,” he said with a sudden tension in his jaw. “See you in a few.”

She nodded, waving as he left.

Half an hour later, she was leaning against the car next to Billy, and while she was enjoying the winter sunshine, Billy was growing increasingly agitated.

“Does your sister know you’re picking her up?” Lisa asked casually. “Maybe she’s already left.”

“Screw it,” he said irritably, dropping his cigarette and walking around to the driver’s side. “Little shit can skate home.”

“Oh, I don’t mind waiting for her,” Lisa said quickly but Billy shook his head, pulling open the driver’s door.

“Nope,” he replied. “And don’t call her that.”

“What?” Lisa asked, pulling open the passenger door.

“‘Sister’,” he repeated, his expression hard. “She’s not my sister.”

Without another word, he sat into the car and started the engine. Lisa, taken aback, decided not to say anything else on the topic as she, too, got into the car.

Chapter Text

The following morning Lisa sat in her car, both sheltering from the rain, and keeping an eye out for Nancy or Jonathan. She hadn't seen either of them since lunch the day before.

It worked out well for her that Billy had offered her a ride, or else she would've had to get the bus from school which she tried to avoid for numerous reasons. Another positive to Billy's offer as well as everything else. Her mind drifted back to the evening prior at Billy's house, his bed, his mouth and hands and-

A knock on the passenger door window made her jump, but she relaxed when she saw that it was Steve, so she leaned over to open the passenger door.

He was kind enough to shake the droplets of rain out of his hair all over her, like a dog.

"Thanks for that," she said, wiping her sleeve over the folders on her lap to dry them, and he winced apologetically.

"Sorry, Lise," he said, and he stared through the windscreen through the droplets of rain, brow furrowed.

"You okay? Or do you need more time to brood?"

"I am not brooding," he shot back.

She shrugged, "fine, you're moping."

He shook his head in amused exasperation, "you sure know how to make a guy feel good, Lisa. Wait no- I didn't mean...shit, nevermind."

Lisa threw back her head and laughed, and he shoved her lightly in the shoulder, "shut up."

After a moment of comfortable silence she gave him a knowing look, "what's up?"

"You haven't seen Nancy around, have you?" he asked.

She shook her head, "not since lunch yesterday. I was supposed to get a ride home with her and Jonathan but they must've skipped last period."

"That's weird," Steve said.

"Agreed."

"Sorry, if I'd known, I would've hung around and brought you home," Steve said with a frown.

"Nah, it's good. I, uh, went back to Billy's."

Steve's frown deepened, and Lisa scowled, "honestly, what's up with you two?"

"He's...well...Just be careful, okay?" Steve said slowly.

Lisa nodded and sighed, "I will. So enough about my relationship, what's new on your side?"

"As Nancy probably told you, she swung by the gym, we talked. And yeah, I think it's fucked."

"You're both so goddamn stubborn, just talk to each other," Lisa said in exasperation.

"We did talk!"

"Without getting pissy," Lisa added.

"And hold on- I'm stubborn? Well, you should tell Nancy-"

"I'm not a messenger pigeon!" She scowled, "you both need to stop using me as a middle ground whenever you fight."

"You're right, sorry," Steve answered apologetically. "I'll talk to her properly. I just need to cool off first or I'll say shit I don't mean, like usual."

The school bell rang, and they reluctantly got out into the rain, running to the school doors. Lisa sheltered her hair with her folders, not willing to put up with the frizz it would evolve into if it got wet again.

Lisa turned to Steve as they wiped their wet shoes on the rug at the doors, "so, you still want me to tutor you in algebra?"

He looked up, "you'll still do that?"

She smiled, "sure. What days suit you?"

He thought about that as they walked to their lockers, "well, on Wednesdays I have swim practice after school. Thursdays I have track, but I'm free most evenings 'cos basketball is during gym period."

"I just work on the weekends so I'm free during the week, here-" she tore a scrap of paper from the back of a notebook and pulled out a pen, scribbling down a set of digits. "That's my phone number, if you need to reschedule or anything, call me at home."

"I probably still have this number from, well, before," he said, but he took the scrap of paper and tucked it into his wallet with a genuine grin. "So, are you free tonight? After school?"

Lisa glanced up to see Billy leaning against her locker, and she gave him a small wave, not noticing as Steve's face fell slightly.

"Yeah, I can do tonight," she told him, and he was slightly taken aback.

"Uh, wait, really?"

She gave him a strange look, "yeah. If you still want-"

"Yes!" he blurted. "Yeah, I'll see you tonight."

"And at lunch," she said, and it wasn't a question.

"And at lunch, yeah," he smiled, ignoring Billy staring holes into the side of his head.

—

Steve was in the showers after gym class, during which Billy knocked him on his ass. Again.

"Don't sweat it Harrington," Billy said as they washed themselves. "Today's just not your day, man."

"Yeah, not your week," Tommy added with a laugh.

Steve ignored them as the water sprayed over his hair and chest, so Tommy took that as an invitation to keep talking.

"You and the princess break up for one day, and she's already running off with the freak's brother."

That caught Steve's attention and he froze as he was reaching for the soap.

Tommy snickered, "oh shit, you don't know. Jonathan and the princess skipped yesterday. Still haven't shown. But that must just be a coincidence, right?"

"Don't take it too hard, man," Billy said with a patronising smirk as Tommy left the shower room, "a pretty boy like you has got nothing to worry about. Plenty of bitches in the sea. Am I right? Not that I'm looking, 'cause I'm tellin' you, Lisa has got me hooked. Man, she's hot. Those smarts and that body-"

"Don't," Steve spat furiously, glaring at Billy.

Billy held his hands up in mock surrender, "sorry man, didn't realise it was a sore spot for you. Did she turn you down or something?"

Steve said nothing, and Billy smirked, "sucks for you, man."

Steve once again stayed silent and Billy reached over and turned off his water before walking out of the room and leaving Steve alone with his thoughts.

—

Dustin got home from school and halted in the kitchen. "Lisa?"

"Yes, Dustin?"

"What is Steve Harrington doing in our kitchen?"

He asked the question as though the guy wasn't sitting right there.

Lisa glanced at Steve who was sitting next to her at the kitchen table, algebra notes strewn everywhere, "we're studying."

"You're not even in the same year-"

Dustin's hat moved and his eyes went wide, as did Lisa's, "what's wrong with your hat?"

"What's wrong with your face!?" he shrieked, and then he ran to his bedroom and slammed the door behind him.

Steve turned to Lisa with raised eyebrows, "so that's Dustin?"

Lisa chuckled, "the one and only."

"I don't think I even met him when we were kids," he said, deep in thought.

Lisa shrugged, "that wouldn't surprise me. He met his friends as soon as he got to school so spent most of his time with them."

Steve nodded and turned back to his notes, attempting to answer an equation that Lisa had given him from one of her own books.

The phone rang then, and Lisa stood to pick it up, "hello?"

"Lisa? It's Nancy, I need a favour."

"Oh, hey-"

"I got it! Hell yeah!" Steve praised himself for completing the equation and raised his arms in the air in celebration, then he winced and remembered Lisa was on the phone.

"Sorry!" he mouthed at her.

She rolled her eyes but before she could answer Nancy spoke again, "is that Steve?"

Lisa cleared her throat awkwardly, "um, yeah, it's Steve. I'm helping him with algebra before his test next week-"

"Oh, okay!" Nancy replied, "anyway, I need you to cover for me tonight. If my mom calls, I'm staying at yours."

"Oh, why-"

"I can't explain now, but I'll fill you in when I can. I'll talk to you soon."

"Nancy-"

Steve's attention snapped to her, his brows pinched.

"Please just trust me. Talk to you soon!" Nancy hung up the phone and Lisa put it back on the wall with an irritated sigh.

Steve glanced at her sidelong as she sat down, "is Nancy okay?"

She nodded, "yeah she's fine, she just needed a favour."

He shrugged and picked up his pencil again, following her instructions until he didn't fear algebra as much anymore and mentally reminded himself that he had fought an actual monster with nothing more than a baseball bat. That gave him a much-needed confidence boost.

Meanwhile Lisa sat there trying to figure out what Nancy was up to this time, and she was growing tired of being her alibi whenever she decided to start investigating something without letting her in on it.

—

At lunchtime the following day, Lisa walked to her locker, expecting to see Nancy at hers, but she wasn't there, yet again. If she hit a third consecutive day of absence, the school would phone Mrs Wheeler.

Lisa hadn't expected Nancy to be absent yesterday, and figured that was why she'd wanted Lisa to cover for her that evening. But this was the second day she'd skipped, and Lisa realised that she hadn't seen Jonathan around either.

"Lisa?"

She turned around to see Steve walking towards her, and he leaned heavily against the lockers next to hers.

"Oh, hey. I was just about to come looking for you actually," she said as she shoved some books into her bag.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah, I was gonna ask if you'd seen Nancy today."

Steve frowned, "I was gonna ask you the same thing. You haven't seen her?"

"No, I haven't. Haven't spoken to her since she called last night."

"Apparently she's with Jonathan," Steve said.

Lisa raised her eyebrows, "what?"

"Yeah, Tommy said they're skipping school together. I didn't say anything last night because, well, I'm trying not to jump to conclusions."

Lisa scowled, "first of all, you know better than to listen to anything Tommy has to say. Second of all, I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation, and not the one you're thinking of right now."

He crossed his arms, "okay, and if you know so much then tell me what I'm thinking."

Lisa closed her locker and leaned against it, mirroring Steve as she looked up at him, "you're worried she's hooking up with Jonathan right after you guys break up."

"We're not technically broken up, and they're getting close so-"

"You're not broken up?" Lisa asked, confused. "What was the last thing you said to her?"

Steve groaned and rubbed a hand down his face, "I told her that she's bullshit."

Lisa grimaced, "oh, well maybe you need to have that conversation, and soon."

"She's with Jonathan-"

"Steve, boys and girls can be friends, you know. I mean, look at us, right?"

Steve's shoulders dropped and he took a second to respond, "uh, yeah. You're right."

"Hey, Lisa," came a voice from behind her, and Steve immediately tensed up while looking over her shoulder.

Before she knew what was happening, Billy was kissing her right there against the lockers as if Steve wasn't standing right next to them.

Steve quickly turned away, putting his back to them.

Lisa's legs felt like jelly at the intensity of the kiss but then she pulled back and pushed Billy back a step, "we're in company, Billy."

Billy grinned at Steve, and clapped him hard on the shoulder, "Steve doesn't mind, do you Harrington?"

Steve said nothing and Billy nodded, "that's what I thought."

"Well, I mind," Lisa said, frowning. "We were in the middle of a conversation."

Billy's smile dropped, "oh, well don't let me ruin the fun."

She grabbed the front of his jacket before he could storm off, "don't be like that, c'mon."

"You coming over tonight, then?" he asked, turning the charm back on.

"I have work at seven but I could come over for a couple of hours after school?" she replied.

"Looking forward to it," he said, and he ran his hand over the small of Lisa's back and then shamelessly palmed her ass.

"C'mon, man," Steve groaned.

Billy pouted patronisingly, "aw, don't be jealous, Harrington."

"I'm not-"

"I think you are," Billy grinned.

Lisa rolled her eyes and turned away from them to finish swapping out her books.

She was practically choking on the testosterone these two boys were emitting during this pissing contest.

"Why would I be?" Steve said as he stood up to his full height, and Billy stepped close to him, meeting his gaze in a challenge.

"Because Lisa is interested in me and not y-"

"Would the two of you give it a rest!" Lisa snapped, slamming her locker shut.

Billy turned to her, his confidence not wavering, "your pal here is pushing boundaries, sweetheart."

"You're such a jackass," Steve retorted.

"Billy, I'll meet you at the middle school?" Lisa cut in, and Billy turned to her.

"See you then, sweetheart," he winked at her, and then smirked at Steve as he left.

Steve stared after him in disgust and then turned to Lisa, eyebrows raised.

"I'm not talking about this with you," Lisa said before he could say anything. "Let's get lunch before all the good stuff is gone."

"Look, Lise, I know it's none of my business but-"

"You're right, it's not your business," Lisa said, walking away from him.

He tilted his head back and groaned in frustration, but then followed her to the cafeteria.

Chapter Text

After school, while waiting for Billy’s stepsister at his car, Lisa observed Lucas having an intense conversation with a redhaired girl outside the school doors. Lisa didn’t even know that Lucas could talk to girls, other than his mom and sister, let alone argue with one.

Lisa recognised her as Max, the girl from the arcade who had bested the boys in their favourite games. Who Lisa had shared a conspiratorial smile with when she hid among the other games to secretly watch the fallout of the boys seeing the new high score.

On a number of occasions, when Lisa was opening the arcade, she’d found Max waiting outside and let her in early, and the two had gotten to know each other a bit.

Max stormed away from Lucas and hopped on her skateboard, coming to stop next to Billy’s car.

Lisa frowned in confusion, and Max frowned as Billy took his arm from around Lisa’s shoulders.

Max was new, having moved from California, with her mom, stepdad, and stepbrother. The pieces fell into place in her mind just as Max kicked up her board into her hand.

“Lisa?”

“Hi, Max,” Lisa replied awkwardly. “Sorry, I didn’t know you were Billy’s sis- stepsister.”

Max shrugged, “it’s fine-”

“Great, you two know each other,” Billy said sharply, tossing away his cigarette. “That kid you were talking to, who is he?”

“He’s no one,” Max answered.

Lisa tried to open the car door, but Billy hadn’t unlocked the car.

“No one?” Billy asked, staring at Max over the roof of the car.

“Just this kid from my class,” Max said, her hands beginning to shake.

Lisa frowned and tried the door again, “Billy the car is locked.”

His gaze slid to meet hers, and an unfamiliar coldness in his eyes made her uneasy.

She heard the car unlock, and broke eye contact with Billy to open the passenger door. She pulled the seat forward so Max could climb in and the younger girl gave her a small smile of gratitude.

Billy didn’t get in the car straight away and just before Lisa climbed in, she saw that Billy had fixed his gaze on Lucas, who stood on the front lawn of the school, watching them getting into the car.

Billy sat into the car then but didn’t start the engine, instead, he looked in the rearview mirror to look at Max, “why was he talking to you?”

“It was just about a stupid class assignment,” Max said quickly.

“Then why are you so upset?” Billy asked.

“I’m not!” Max answered back.

Lisa was feeling more and more uncomfortable, and she could hear the tremble in Max’s voice.

“He causing you trouble?” Bill asked with a deadly calm.

“Billy-”

Billy’s hand shot up, silencing Lisa before she could speak, and Lisa didn’t expect to flinch but she did. If Max wasn’t in the car, she would’ve gotten out without another word.

Max’s eyes went wide, but she shook her head, “why do you care?”

“Because, Max, you’re a piece of shit, but we’re family now, whether we like it or not-”

“Woah- what the fuck, Billy,” Lisa gasped, and he turned his glare on her.

“Stay outta this, Lisa. Doesn’t concern you,” he said icily.

“As I was saying,” Billy said, still holding Lisa’s horrified gaze. “That means that I’m stuck looking out for you. There are a certain type of people in this world that you stay away from, and that kid is one of them.”

Lisa was horrified, but too afraid to say anything upon seeing the venom in Billy’s expression.

“Stay away from him, you hear? Stay away,” Billy said, and then he turned on the engine of the car.

Lisa could hear Max crying softly in the back of the car, and her own hands trembled so hard that she had to stick them under her thighs.

She’d faced a monster from an alternative dimension, but this…This truly scared her.

—

Pulling into the driveway of the house, Lisa quickly got out and rummaged in her bag for a pen and notebook. She quickly wrote on the paper and folded it up small, and then pulled the passenger seat forward.

She held out her hand to Max, “here, let me help you out.”

“I can-”

“It’s okay,” Lisa said, raising her eyebrows.

Max’s eyes widened when she spotted the folded paper in Lisa’s hand, and quickly grabbed it before letting Lisa help her out of the car.

Lisa glanced over the roof of the car, seeing that Billy had his back to them as he lit another cigarette. Under her breath she spoke as she leaned in to pull the seat back into place.

“Call me if you’re in trouble, any time, and I’ll come and get you.”

Max’s lower lip wobbled as she nodded, and then glanced to see if Billy was still distracted.

“He ran the boys off the road on Halloween, I was there.”

She said it so quickly and so quietly that Lisa barely heard her, and then Max was taking off in a run towards the house.

Lisa waited until Max was inside before turning to Billy, “um, can we take a raincheck? I’m not feeling well, could you drop me home?”

Wordlessly, Billy nodded. He drove her home in silence, and she didn’t even say goodbye as she climbed out of the car, only murmuring a ‘thanks’ before shutting the door.

“Looks like no one’s home,” he said out of the open window as she walked around the car. The house was dark, and her mom’s car wasn’t in the driveway.

He climbed out of the car, and leaned back against the side of it.

“I hope Max’s little episode today won’t be a problem,” he said, folding his arms and staring at her.

Lisa glanced around to see how close to her house she was, and then looked back at Billy, steeling herself.

You’ve buried an axe in a monster’s back, you can handle Billy Hargrove, she told herself.

“A friend of my mom’s saw a car running a couple of kids off the road on Halloween,” she said.

Billy’s eyebrows raised in surprise, clearly not expecting her to say that, “that so?”

“Yeah, a dark blue ‘79 Camaro,” she said, hoisting her bag strap up and slipping her hand into the jacket of her pocket, making sure her house keys were there.

“Sounds like a nice car,” he said and then shrugged. “A car like that is built to be driven fast. They must’ve been cycling too slow on their pieces of shit bikes.”

There was a moment of silence, “I didn’t say anything about them being on bikes.”

Billy’s eyes flashed and chuckled, holding his hands up in mock defeat, “well, you’ve got me. I figured a good Halloween scare would set the tone for the evening. No one got hurt.”

“One of those kids was my brother,” Lisa told him sharply, trying to reign in her anger.

Billy’s eyes narrowed, attempting to hide his mild surprise, “so what, you’re mad at me now? Is that what this is?”

Lisa stared at him and shook her head, “I…I don’t think we should see each other anymore, Billy.”

Billy stilled, his expression growing cold as he took a step towards her, “you don’t mean that, sweetheart.”

Her palms began to sweat, “yes. I do.”

Billy was standing barely a foot from her, and he leaned in to peer into her face, and she held his gaze without wavering.

“No, you don’t,” he said with dangerous softness. “Things are good between us.”

“They were until you turned out to be a complete asshole-”

She gasped as he suddenly reached out and grabbed her by the face, his thumb and fingers bracketing her jaw as he dragged her closer to him, his face mere inches from hers.

Her heart was pounding with fear and tears filled her eyes, but his face was blank.

“You think you’re too good for me, don’t you?”

A tear leaked from the corner of her eye, and she tried to shake her head but his grip was like iron.

“Well, you’re not,” he whispered, and he held her wide-eyed gaze for a moment before letting go of her face.

He brushed his hand over her head, wearing the smile she fell for, “I was getting bored anyway. I’ll let Harrington know he’s welcome to you now. Spoiled goods and all.”

With that, he turned and got into his car, slamming the door and revving the engine, then speeding off into the night.

Lisa stood there, completely frozen to the spot.

Once she was sure he was gone, she ran to the house, locking the door behind her.

“Mom? Dustin?”

There was no answer, and as soon as the silence and alone-ness hit her, that what had happened finally sunk in.

She hurried through the house and closed her bedroom door behind her, locking it, and pulling the curtains shut. She sat on her bed and pulled the phone off her nightstand and onto her lap, and after flicking back through the small phonebook she had until she found the number she was looking for, she punched in the number with shaking hands.

She dialled the number, and almost dropped the phone when it picked up on the second ring.

“Harrington residence, this is Steve,” he sounded bored.

More hot tears filled her eyes at the sound of his voice, and she couldn’t speak.

“Hello?” he said. “Anyone there?”

“Steve,” she said, her voice trembling. She squeezed her eyes shut against the tears that wouldn’t stop coming.

“Lisa?”

She nodded, stupidly, before realising he couldn’t see her.

“It’s me,” she said, taking a steadying breath, but she had to hold the phone away as she tried to stifle some cries.

“Lise, is everything okay?”

Lisa coughed in an attempt to lessen the lump in her throat, “not really, I- you were right about Billy. He-”

She broke off, unable to hold back a sob.

A part of her was bracing itself for the I told you so, but instead she heard the jangling of keys.

“I’m coming over.”

Relief flooded her, and she cried in earnest, “okay.”

Less than ten minutes later, there was a tentative knock on the front door, and Lisa quickly peeked through the curtains before hurrying to unlock and open it.

Steve stood on her front porch, looking worried, and he looked up at her with wide eyes as she opened the front door and stepped back to let him inside.

He closed the door behind him and leaned down to turn on the small tabletop lamp by the door, lighting up the otherwise dark house.

The way he was looking at her, with such care and concern, made her fall apart completely.

She brought her hands up to her face as her shoulders began to shake, and in an instant his arms were around her, pulling her into his chest. She clung to the front of his sweater and cried, and he wordlessly tightened his grip, one hand rubbing her back in comforting circles.

She wasn’t sure how long they stood like that, but once she’d cried until there were no tears left, Steve loosened his grip and put his hands on her shoulders, moving back slightly to look down at her.

She averted her gaze and wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her sweater.

“Lisa,” Steve said, and she looked up at him.

His brows furrowed, “what happened?”

She let out a breath and eyed the front door, “not here, Mom might come back any minute and I don’t want her to see me like this.”

He nodded and followed her through the house and into her room, and she sank down on the bed with a sigh, leaning over to turn on the lamp on her nightstand.

“The bed isn’t lava, you know. You can sit down,” she said, gesturing to the empty space on the end of the bed.

He realised then that he’d just been standing on the threshold of her room, and he closed the door behind him and slowly sat down on the bed, leaning back against the wall.

She was quiet for a long moment, absentmindedly fiddling with her painted nails. Steve observed her and didn’t miss how her eyes shone in the low light, tears filling them again.

“I’m here, Lise,” he said before he could stop himself.

She lifted her tearful gaze to him and gave him a sad, wobbly smile, “I know.”

They were quiet for a few moments and then Lisa sank further back into her pillows, and she stuck her feet under his leg.

He smiled at her, remembering when she did that years ago when they were watching movies together, and she’d stick her permanently cold toes under his leg.

She smiled back, but then it faded as she opened her mouth to speak, “I broke up with Billy.”

His mouth fell open, “oh, jeez. I’m sorry, Lise.”

She gave him a rueful smile, “turns out you were right all along.”

He gave her an unimpressed look, “I didn’t want to be right.”

She nodded, “I know, I guess a stupid part of me thought that I could…I don’t know, fuckin’ fix him? God, I was so stupid. This isn’t a romance novel, that’s for sure.”

“You weren’t stupid, Lise,” Steve said. “You had feelings for the guy, sometimes that makes us blind to the truth.”

She stared at him, “wow, where’d that wisdom come from?”

He rolled his eyes, “hilarious.”

They were quiet for a moment, and then Steve spoke again as curiosity got the better of him.

“What made you end it?”

She bit her lip and then shook her head, “he was such a dick to his stepsister earlier, just really awful to her. I didn’t want to be with him anymore but my gut told me to get home, so I got him to bring me back and I ended it then.”

“I’m guessing he didn’t take it well,” Steve mumbled.

Lisa shook her head, “he tried to change my mind, but when I didn’t, he…he grabbed me.”

He watched in horror as her hand travelled to her jaw, silently showing him how Billy had held her.

Without thinking he leaned over and took hold of her other hand that was balled in a fist, her knuckles white. She lowered her hand from her face, and relaxed her hand under his.

“There was this split second, while he held onto me like that, where I thought he was going to hurt me. Like, really hurt me,” she whispered, and he gave her hand a soft squeeze.

His gentleness was in complete contrast with the fury on his face.

“Oh, and he called me spoiled goods, or something,” she said quietly. “I know it’s not true, but it really fucking sucked.”

“That son of a bitch- I’m going to break his face,” Steve said sharply, and he let go of her hand and climbed off the bed, running his hand through his hair and pacing her small bedroom furiously. “I’m not kidding, I’ll-”

Lisa blinked, “I’d rather you didn’t, because he’s been waiting for an excuse to hit you. And the look in his eyes…he just looked empty, and I think if he got his hands on you, he wouldn’t stop. And I couldn’t risk you-”

Steve stopped pacing as her voice broke and she looked away from him, and he felt a sudden urge to have her look at him again.

“Why did you call me instead of Nancy? Or Jonathan?” he asked.

She did turn to look at him again, and she frowned, “well, I didn’t know if they were home or not, and I just- I wanted to talk to you. I don’t know why. Sorry, it’s stupid.”

He took a step towards her, “no, it’s not stupid. I’m, well, I’m glad you called me.”

She gave him a quizzical look, “you…are?”

Before he could answer, he was saved by the shrill ringing of the phone. It made them both jump, and they shared a look as Lisa reached out to pick it up from the receiver on her nightstand.

“Hello? Shit- yeah, hi, Keith. I was just going to call you, my car wouldn’t start- um, yes I’ll be there in fifteen…yep, sorry. See you soon.”

She slammed the phone down and groaned loudly, flopping back onto her pillows, “I completely forgot about work.”

Her frustration amused him, “that’s not like you.”

She gave him a withering look, and then climbed off the bed, and immediately slapping her hand to her forehead, “and I left my fucking car at school.”

Steve put a hand on her shoulder, “Lisa, relax. I’ll give you a ride.”

She relaxed and gave him a grateful smile, “that would be great, I’ll just get ready.”

He nodded but didn’t move, and she raised her eyebrows, “Steve.”

“Yeah?”

“Unless you want me to get undressed in front of you and embarrass us both-”

His eyes went wide, “Oh, shit- yep, I’m leaving.”

He was out of her bedroom in two long strides and she chuckled to herself as she quickly changed into her uniform and pulled her curls into a messy bun on her head with a scrunchie. A quick once-over of her face with makeup wipes removed all traces of tear-smeared mascara.

Steve was lingering awkwardly in the hallway, looking everywhere but at her.

“I’m dressed, Steve, relax,” she said with a laugh.

He flushed, “just, um, had to be sure.”

He drove her to the arcade but paused before switching off the car, “are you sure you’re up for this.”

“Nothing like ignorant, screaming children to take my mind off of things,” she said, pulling her bag from the footwell onto her lap and unbuckling her seatbelt.

“Do you need me to give you a ride home after?”

She gave him a grateful smile but shook her head, “it’s okay, I’ll get a ride from one of the girls to my car and drive home.”

He looked like he wanted to say something else but then just looked away.

“Want to come over tomorrow?” she asked and he smiled.

“Yeah, sure, what do you wanna do?”

Lisa considered him for a moment, “I could help you smooth things over with Nancy? We could talk about what you wanna say, and I could…I dunno, mediate? If you both want me to.”

He let out a long breath, but then nodded determinedly, "Yeah. That would be great.”

She got out of the car and then leaned back down before closing the door, “Steve?”

“Hm?”

“Thank you,” she said earnestly. “For being there for me tonight.”

“Anytime, Lise,” he said with a genuine smile.

She returned his smile and then closed the car door, waving over her shoulder as she walked into the arcade.

Steve watched her go, that real smile still on his face.

Chapter Text

The arcade was quiet for a Friday evening, so Lisa got home earlier than expected even after catching a ride to pick up her own car from the school parking lot, which was eerily empty. She closed the front door behind her and was beyond happy to find leftovers from dinner in the refrigerator.

“Hi, hon! How was work?” her mom asked, giving her a quick peck on the cheek as she opened the box of cat food.

Lisa stuck her leftovers in the microwave while her mom opened the back door and shook the box loudly outside.

“Um, fine thanks. What are you doing?” she asked as she came to stand next to her mom on the back porch.

“I can’t find Mews. You haven’t seen her have you?”

“Nope, she’s probably out eating newborn babies or something.”

“Lisa!”

Just then, the front door opened again and Dustin ran in.

“Hey, Dusty! You’re back late!”

“Hi, hey, Mom, sorry, was at Will’s after school,” he panted, “hey, Lisa.”

“The hell happened to you?” Lisa asked a frazzled looking Dustin.

“Everything okay?” their mom asked.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Yeah.” He rushed into his room and Lisa looked at her mom, and they both sighed loudly, used to Dustin’s antics and odd behaviour.

Lisa spent the rest of that evening walking up and down the street, looking for the cat with her mom, but to no avail.

They walked back into the house to see Dustin on the phone, “thank you so much, Mr McCorkle. Thank you so much. You’re a true lifesaver.”

As Dustin said his goodbyes, Mrs Henderson grabbed her daughter’s hand excitedly, “maybe they found her!”

Dustin hung up, “all right, great news!”

“They found her?” their mom asked.

“No. But they saw her wandering around Loch Nora-”

Their mother’s face pinched in concern, “how did the poor baby get all the way out there?”

“I don’t know, lost, I guess! But they’re gonna look for her. And I’ll stay here, just in case they call again, and Lisa’s gonna help look, yeah?”

“Yes, and Lisa, honey, you’ll stay with your brother, won’t you?” Her mother held her by the hands.

“Oh, mom I was going to head to the library before meeting Steve-”

“Oh yeah, she has plans! Wait, Steve Harrington? What the- actually, you know what, nevermind. You do you Lisa. And yeah, I’ll be totally fine by myself!”

Both women turned to Dustin, Lisa narrowing her eyes at his eagerness.

“Okay, well if you’re sure sweetie! I’m going to get Sherry from next door to come with me,” and after exchanging far too many ‘I love you’s’, their mom left.

As soon as the door was closed, Lisa crossed her arms and turned to Dustin, “you have five seconds to tell me what the hell is going on.”

“Nothing’s going on!” he answered hurriedly, “just hitting puberty, I guess!”

“Gross, man,” Lisa said, grimacing, and then grabbed her jacket and her canvas tote bag of books from the chair next to the door.

She glanced over her shoulder and Dustin was smiling innocently at her, “have fun!”

She shook her head in mild disbelief at him, and then took the car keys from the hook by the door, “see you later, weirdo.”

As she pulled in to park in front of the public town library she stuck her hands in her jacket pocket and groaned aloud.

“My purse is in my other goddamn jacket,” she leaned her forehead on the steering wheel in frustration, knowing how strict the librarian was on people bringing their library cards.

She groaned loudly and restarted the car’s engine, heading back home.

She had just pulled into the driveway when she glanced up to see Dustin running across their front yard yielding a hockey stick and wearing full goalie protective gear.

“What the fuck?” she said aloud before climbing out of the car and marching across to intercept Dustin.

Dustin screamed when he saw her, “shit! Shit! What are you doing here?”

“I live here?”

He grabbed her arm and pulled her with him with such urgency, she hadn’t the chance to so much as protest as her kid brother manhanded her into their old wooden playhouse.

“Dustin, what the f-”

“Sssh!” he clapped an oven gloved hand over half her face, muffling the rest of her sentence. “There’s no time to explain, just be quiet.”

He pulled the oversized hockey helmet from his head and shoved it down onto hers before she could even react, and then he turned his focus to a gap in the wooden boards of the shed walls.

“Come on, come on, I know you’re hungry,” Dustin murmured and before Lisa could say anything, she saw his eyes widen as he looked out. She leaned in to look out too, and her stomach dropped.

“What the hell is that?” she asked in a horrified whisper as she watched a four-legged creature, not completely unlike the creature she had fought alongside Steve, Nancy and Jonathan several months earlier.

“It’s a long story now, shush!”

Lisa felt her heart pound as the creature got closer, and she barely dared to breathe as it moved, only stopping to pick up a trail of food she guessed Dustin had left.

“Yes, yes, yes,” Dustin whispered, almost encouragingly to the creature as it ate the food, unfortunately getting much closer to their hiding spot.

Lisa saw the trail of food was leading to their storm-shelter-turned-basement, only the creature stopped at the threshold.

The two of them held their breaths as it paused, and they leapt back in fright as it turned to look back at them.

“Shit!” Dustin exclaimed while Lisa gasped in fright, and they both clung onto each other as they backed away from the wall.

Dustin let go of Lisa and took a step forward once again, looking through the gaps in the boards but he jumped back once again and leaned his back against the adjacent wall. Lisa was leaning heavily against the back wall, her chest rising and falling in a panic.

She met Dustin’s wide-eyed gaze, and he, too, was breathing heavily in fear.

But then he turned away and steeled himself, and to her horror he yelled and kicked open the door of the shed, charging forward and hitting the creature into the storm-shelter with the hockey stick in his hands.

He continued yelling and Lisa ran out just as he put his weight on the closed shelter doors, and both of them lay across the doors, feeling the creature banging on the metal beneath them.

Dustin groaned, directing his words to the door, “I’m sorry. You ate my cat.”

“It did what!?” Lisa shrieked in disbelief, staring at her brother who gave her a resigned look, shame in his eyes.

She grabbed the hockey stick roughly from his grasp and shoved it through the handles of the doors, and then she pushed herself up and marched angrily to the shed near the house, coming back with a large tow chain and padlock which she quickly put into place through the handles of the doors.

After securing the door, Lisa stood up again, furiously pocketing the key for the padlock.

“What, the everloving-” she angrily yanked the helmet off her head and flung into the ground, “-fuck is going on!?”

Dustin rolled over, still lying on the door of the shelter, “I found a creature in our trash can, I named him D'Artagnan, after the Musketeer, but I call him Dart for short-”

“Dustin!” Lisa seethed.

“Okay, okay, sorry. Dart got big, he ate Mews, and now he’s in our storm shelter.”

Lisa sat down heavily on the ground, her head in her hands, “so you’re telling me that you’ve kept that thing as a pet?”

“Correct.”

“And it ate Mews?”

“Correct.”

Lisa pushed down the urge to puke right there on the grass. There was a creature in their storm cellar that had eaten the cat.

“So, you’ve been keeping this…this thing in the house?” Lisa was horrified. “I was sleeping under the same roof as an alien creature that my brother stupidly decided to adopt? A freakin’ Demogorgon-”

“A Demodog.”

She looked at him, “a what?

He shrugged, “we call him a Demodog.”

She narrowed her eyes, “who’s ‘we’?”

“Er- me, Lucas, Mike and Will,” he confessed.

Lisa gave him a disbelieving look, “you’re all idiots! What were you thinking?”

“Um, we weren’t,” he admitted.

“Damn right, you weren’t! This is a disaster,” Lisa said, putting her face in her hands.

Later, Lisa was on her hands and knees scrubbing the cat’s blood out of Dustin’s carpet, while Dustin buried what remained of said cat in the backyard.

“I’m cleaning up blood, I’m cleaning literal blood out of a carpet,” she mumbled disbelievingly to herself. “Like some kind of murderer, I’m cleaning up blood. What is my life? Seriously what-”

“Lisa, no one’s picking up, we have to go to Mike’s,” Dustin said, hurrying into the room holding his radio with his headset on.

“Well, lucky for you I’ve just finished cleaning the-”

“The blood out of my carpet, I know! Jesus, woman, I heard you from across the house!” Dustin sassed her.

She got to her feet and pulled off the yellow washing up gloves, “sass me again, you little twerp, and you can walk to Mike’s.”

“I have a bike.”

“I will stick scissors into the tires.”

“You wouldn’t!” he gasped.

She crossed her arms, “with how pissed at you I am right now, I would.”

“Understandable,” he replied, and then they got into her car and she drove them to the Wheelers’, parking a bit down the street from their driveway.

“Be quick, I’m supposed to be meeting Steve here at like…” she checked the watch on her wrist. “Well, right about now actually. Oh- and don’t tell Nancy I’m here, Steve’s planning something.”

Dustin rolled his eyes at her but climbed out of the car to walk up to the front door.

Lisa put her head in her hands, and then she saw Steve’s car pulling up by the Wheelers’ house.

“Since when is Steve Harrington punctual?” she mumbled to herself.

She climbed out of the car just as Dustin turned on his heel with a scowl and marched back in the direction of the car.

“Steve!”

Steve turned his head in her direction, “Lisa, hey!”

Dustin jogged over to intercept him, and he pointed to the flowers in Steve’s hand, “are those for Mr and Mrs Wheeler?”

“No-”

“Good,” Dustin snatched the flowers from Steve and marched back to Lisa’s car.

“Hey! What the hell? Hey!” Steve protested, and Lisa groaned and walked over to them.

“Nancy’s not home,” Dustin said loudly to both of them.

Lisa frowned, “well, there goes the planned aspect of today’s activities.”

Steve gave her a quizzical look, “I don’t understand, what am I supposed to do now-”

“It doesn’t matter!” Dustin cut in. “We have bigger problems than your love life.”

Dustin flung the bunch of flowers into her car and Lisa glanced sheepishly at Steve, “sorry, this is a bit of a spanner in the works.”

“Yeah, she’s not even home, we need another plan.”

Lisa gave him an apologetic look, “something else has just come up. So, uh, do you still have that bat?”

“Bat? What bat?”

Lisa grimaced, “the one with the nails that you had when we beat up that monster at the Byers’? That bat?”

Steve made an ‘o’ shape with his mouth, “oh, that bat. Why?”

“We’ll explain on the way, grab the bat and get in,” she nodded to her car.

“Wh- now?”

“Yes, now!” She answered, throwing her hands up in defeat. Steve took the bat out of the trunk of his car without any further questioning.

She climbed back into the driver’s seat and helped Steve to pull the passenger seat forward, but Dustin outright refused to sit in the back.

“Dustin, get in the back.”

“No! He’s the unplanned guest so why should he get to sit shotgun?” Dustin was affronted.

“Because I said so.”

Dustin glared, “give me a proper reason-”

“This car is tiny and if he sits in the back, his knees will stick into the back of my seat thanks to his long-ass legs and I won’t be able to drive properly. That’s why,” she snapped.

Steve flung his hands up, “hey! I can’t help it-”

“Both of you please get in the damn car,” she seethed, her patience running extremely thin at this point.

The boys shut up and did as they were told.

—

The three of them sat in a tense silence as Lisa drove.

She was the only connection between the two boys, who sat awkwardly without a word to say to each other, and since she was still extremely pissed off at Dustin, she figured she’d make sure he knew it.

“Look, in my defence-”

Lisa reached over to turn on the stereo and turned the music up, drowning out Dustin’s measly attempt at making an excuse for himself from the back seat.

He scowled and sat back in his seat, crossing his arms.

Steve looked at her from the passenger seat and pointed to the radio which was blaring synthesised guitar, “‘Fame’? Wait, is this the monster hunting mixtape I- um, Nancy made you?”

“Yup, I guess that’s what we’re doing now, like glorified Ghostbusters-”

“Technically monster hunters-” Dustin began loudly.

Lisa turned the music up a bit more and Dustin glared at her, and Steve chuckled awkwardly, not wanting to get in the middle of whatever was going on between the Henderson siblings.

He cleared his throat, “so, anyone wanna explain to me what the hell is going on.”

She immediately paused the music so that silence filled the car, “ask Dustin.”

“Oh, so now I’m allowed to speak, am I?” Dustin snarked.

She glared at him in her mirror, “don’t test me, asshole.”

Dustin scowled but turned to Steve, “there’s a Demodog locked in our storm cellar.”

“A what now?” Steve asked, his glaze flicking to Lisa who just shook her head, her jaw ticking in annoyance at the entire situation.

“It’s like a Demogorgon, but smaller and runs on all fours, like a dog, thus…Demodog,” Dustin explained, looking proud of himself.

Steve nodded, “wait a second, so how big is this thing?”

Dustin held out his hand, showing a size of several inches with his thumb and index finger, “first he was like that, and now he’s like this.” He held out his hands, showing a much bigger size.

Steve sighed loudly, “I swear to God, man, it’s probably just some little lizard, okay?”

“It’s not a lizard,” Lisa said.

“Yup, definitely not a lizard,” Dustin added.

“How do you know?” Steve asked.

“How do we know it’s not just a lizard?” Dustin asked incredulously. “Because his face opened up and he ate our cat.”

Steve immediately snapped his jaw shut and nodded.

Lisa let out the longest, most frustrated yet cathartic groan as she pulled the car into the driveway. It was growing dark, and Lisa could not believe that her Saturday had been spent cleaning up after the carnage caused by Dustin’s secret pet.

Lisa slammed the car door and the two boys hurried after her as she walked around the back of the house and down the steps into the backyard.

She flung her hand out to point at the miraculously still-intact storm cellar, “there. The actual unplanned guest of the hour. Or what has it been, two weeks?”

“A month,” Dustin answered awkwardly.

Steve watched as Lisa gave her brother the most dangerous glare he’d ever seen a person wear, “a month?”

The siblings stared at each other, Lisa looking like she was going to wring her brother’s neck, and Dustin looking like he was trying to come up with an excuse to save his own life.

Steve cleared his throat, “um-”

“I’m getting my axe,” Lisa said, storming back up the steps into the house.

Steve and Dustin stood in silence, staring at the door of the storm cellar.

“So, she’s mad.”

“Wow, really? I didn’t notice. Thank you, Steve Harrington.”

Steve rolled his eyes, “look man, I don’t have siblings but I’m just saying- she’s going through a breakup, so maybe go easy on her.”

Dustin looked up at him with a frown, “she broke up with Billy? I didn’t know.”

Steve nodded, “oh, well it just happened yesterday. He’s a total douchebag.”

Dustin looked down and kicked the grass, “well, it sucks that she’s sad…but I’m glad she’s done with him.”

“Me too,” Steve said in agreement, and Dustin narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the older boy.

Lisa made her return known by slamming the backdoor closed behind her, and swinging her axe up onto her shoulder as she walked down to them.

Steve blinked, taking in how both frightening and…impressive she looked.

“Let’s get this over with,” she said, eyeing the lock and pulling the key out of her jacket pocket. “Ready?”

They both nodded to her and she made quick work of the padlock, pulling out the chain and then standing back to raise her axe.

They listened for any indication of how close the creature was to the doors, but there wasn’t a noise to be heard.

“I don’t hear shit,” Steve said.

“He’s in there,” Dustin said defensively.

Steve gave him a dubious look, “are you sure-”

Lisa turned her axe to the blunt side of the head and gave the doors a sudden, sharp whack.

The boys both jumped in fright, but other than that, there was no sound of movement inside.

“Well that’s just wonderful,” she said. “Now how are we supposed to know where it is?”

“We open the doors and go inside?” Dustin said.

“Would you like to go in first?” Lisa asked him.

Dustin took a step backwards, “I am a child, Lisa.”

“He was your pet,” Lisa answered.

“Let’s open the doors then, yeah?” Steve interrupted their bickering, giving Dustin a pointed look to remind him of their conversation.

Lisa sighed, not looking at them, “fine, let's do it.”

“Yup, you’re the boss, Lisa,” Dustin said, smiling angelically at his sister who gave him a suspicious look.

He gave Steve a grin and a double thumbs up behind Lisa’s back and Steve just rolled his eyes.

Lisa took a door and indicated to Dustin to take the other, and Steve held his bat at the ready.

They yanked the doors open and braced themselves, but nothing came charging out at them. They waited for a moment, and then another, and then the three of them relaxed.

Lisa held up the torch and made to walk down the steps, but Steve grabbed her arm, “hey, wait, maybe I should go first?”

Lisa gave him an incredulous look, “thank you, o noble knight, but I’ll be fine.”

Steve gave her an unimpressed look and she smirked at him, patting his shoulder as she passed him.

Raising the torch and holding her axe up higher, she cautiously made her way down.

“Hey, so where’d you get the axe?” Dustin asked. “It’s like, super badass.”

“Not now, Dustin,” Lisa said as she took another step down.

“Okay, I’ll just, um, stay up here in case he tries to escape,” Dustin said.

Steve followed Lisa down, and when she pulled the string to turn on the light, they looked around. Steve blanched as he lifted a slimy piece of what looked like shedded skin up from the floor.

“The thing’s after shedding or something,” he called up the stairs to Dustin who groaned loudly in frustration.

“Steve,” Lisa said, catching his attention.

When he walked over and stood next to her, she shone her torch on the wall, showing him the large hole there, bricks and soil piled on the floor at the base of it.

“Oh, shit,” Steve muttered.

“Dustin, get down here!” Lisa shouted, and Dustin cautiously came down, and Lisa gestured to the wall.

“Oh, shit!” Dustin exclaimed.

He leaned down to look closer at the wall, which had been dug through bricks and layers of thickly packed soil, not the work of a small creature.

“Right, well, we should probably reconvene early tomorrow morning to get to the bottom of this,” Dustin said brightly, trying to diffuse the tension. “Lisa, what do you think? You’re the leader of this operation.”

Lisa just scowled and walked up the stairs, switching off the light on the way, and Steve followed her, leaving Dustin in the dark.

He threw up his arms, staring after them in the dark, “is that a yes? Lisa? Steve?”

A rustling sound behind him made him shriek and run out of the storm shelter, slamming the doors shut and running after his sister and the tall idiot behind her.

Chapter Text

“What’s your favourite memory?” Lisa had asked Billy weeks ago.

She lay on his bare chest and he absentmindedly drew circles on her shoulder with his fingertips, his other hand holding his cigarette to his mouth.

She felt him chuckle under her cheek and she leaned up on her elbow to look at him expectantly, and he quirked his brows at her incredulously as if she’d asked the most ridiculous question he’d ever heard.

He relented under her pointed look and leaned over her to put his cigarette out on the ashtray on the nightstand, exhaling the smoke as he did so.

“Why?”

She shrugged a bare shoulder, “I’m curious.”

“You’re nosy,” Billy responded, trying to distract her by combing his fingers through the damp curls at her temple, tracing them down her neck and then down her chest.

“Fine, I’m nosy,” she agreed with a grin, taking his fingers from her chest and holding them in her hand instead. “Tell me.”

He groaned and flopped back on the pillows, “impossible woman.”

She laughed and lay down next to him, holding her head up on her hand as she looked down at him.

His amusement disappeared from his face as he thought about it, and she rested her hand on his cheek, “sorry, you don’t actually have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

He hummed and closed his eyes, “no, it’s…It’s fine.”

He was quiet for a moment and then his piercing eyes were open and focusing on the ceiling over the bed, “Christmas, second grade. I got my first car.”

The corner of his mouth twitched and she watched quietly as he spoke.

“A red 1976 Ford Gran Torino. It was about the size of my hand but it was my favourite thing in the world,” Billy said quietly, holding up his thumb and forefinger to show the size. “It was the Starsky and Hutch special edition. It was always sold out of the local store, so my mom went to a bunch of different stores until she-”

He broke off and Lisa waited for him to continue, and his jaw ticked as he tensed slightly. Lisa stroked her thumb against his cheek, and he met her eyes.

“That sounds like a nice memory,” she said softly.

He nodded, swallowing heavily and looking away, “I haven’t talked about her in years.”

Lisa pulled her hand from his face and rested it on his chest, “what was her name?”

“Annie,” he said softly, and he closed his eyes again. He lit another cigarette, and was quiet for so long that she didn’t think he’d say anything else, but he did.

“There was this beach in California. We’d go, just the two of us and I learned to surf. I was pretty good, probably could’ve gone pro if I’d kept it up.”

“Spoken like a true Californian,” she said and he chuckled, but his eyes darkened in a way that told Lisa that the conversation was over.

“Thank you for telling me,” she said.

He took a drag of his cigarette, and briefly met her eye before looking away, “thanks for asking.”

—

Lisa lay in her own bed and wiped her eyes, feeling guilt eating away at her for walking away from Billy. His mom had done the same when he was no older than ten years old, and even though they’d only had that one conversation about her, she could tell it still ate at him.

And had made him into the hardened person he was today.

“I was getting bored anyway. I’ll let Harrington know he’s welcome to you now. Spoiled goods and all.”

Fresh tears filled her eyes and she pressed her comforter to her face as she composed herself.

“No,” she told herself, climbing out of bed. “I was his girlfriend, not a goddamn verbal punching bag.”

It took a lot of convincing to get herself out of those pits of guilt, but she talked herself down from a fresh bout of crying just as Dustin knocked on her door.

“Lisa?” Dustin shouted with unnecessarily loud volume.

“Yeah, I’m getting ready!” Lisa shouted back, cursing the way her voice cracked slightly from crying.

“Hurry up, Steve Harrington is here.”

“Alright, keep your hat on,” Lisa called back, quickly getting dressed.

They’d agreed to meet again this morning as Dustin had suggested, and Lisa dressed warmly for the fall weather, and grabbed her axe from beside the door.

She nearly fell as she tried to lace up her boots in the hallway, and Steve watched in amusement as he ate a toaster waffle from Dustin’s plate.

“Enjoy your trip?” he asked over his mouthful of food.

Lisa glared at him, “hilarious, and disgusting. Close your mouth.”

Steve held his hands up in surrender as he swallowed and she sighed and took a waffle for herself, “sorry. Didn’t sleep well.”

Steve looked at her carefully, “you’re upset.”

“I’m fine now, nothing a good cry couldn’t fix,” she said, shouldering the backpack she’d packed the night before.

“Lisa,” Steve started but then Dustin walked back into the kitchen from the backyard, two large buckets in tow.

“The supplies is in supply,” he said brightly, and Lisa almost lost her breakfast at the sight of the raw meat in the buckets.

“Did you raid a butcher’s store?” Steve asked, also grimacing.

“Nope, just Mom’s freezer in the garage,” Dustin said simply.

Lisa called work feigning an illness, and after grabbing a few pairs of bright yellow washing up gloves from under the sink, the three of them took off on their mission.

—

They walked along the old railway line through the woods with the buckets of raw meat in hand.

“This is not how I’d predicted I’d spend my Sunday,” Lisa said, changing the subject from Dustin’s awkward defensiveness about impressing Max.

“What else would you be doing?” Steve asked, walking behind the Henderson siblings.

“She’d be reading, doing extra credit homework, reading her magazines and staring at pictures of Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, and Rob Lowe-”

“Shut up, Dustin!” Lisa snapped, mortified. “They’ve got good hair, that’s all.”

Steve subconsciously reached up to run a hand through his own hair.

Dustin gave his sister a look of disgust, “and that makes it cool to ogle them. Unbelievable.”

“You’re thirteen and you play fantasy games in a basement with your friends,” Lisa retorted.

“Excuse you, we play fantasy games in a basement and we hunt monsters,” he answered defensively, his voice growing higher in pitch towards the end of his sentence.

“And keep them as pets, apparently,” she said with a pointed glare.

Dustin paused his walking, “touché, Lisa. Touché.”

Steve smirked at Lisa as she slowed her pace, and bumped her shoulder with his, “Rob Lowe? Really?”

Lisa used her forearm to shove him away, keeping her disgustingly slippery gloves in front of her, “shut up, Harrington. Everyone has a crush on movie stars.”

He laughed at her flushing face, and she glared at him, “anyway, weren’t we in the middle of talking about Dustin’s crush-”

“Shut UP, Lisa!” Dustin practically shrieked.

He wielded a chunk of raw meat in her direction as though it were a weapon, and Lisa attempted to fend him off by ducking behind Steve, using him as a physical barrier between her and her brother.

Steve didn’t acknowledge their silent war other than holding his gloved hands up between them.

In an attempt to move the conversation along he turned to Dustin, pointedly walking between him and Lisa, “so, let me get this straight, you kept something that you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl who…who you just met?”

Dustin shook his head, brandishing the chunk of meat once more at Lisa before flinging it onto the ground in front of him, “alright- that’s grossly oversimplifying things-”

“I mean, why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?” Steve continued, not really listening to Dustin.

Lisa snorted with laughter as she lingered back to walk behind them, figuring Dustin could do with a pep talk from an older boy without her input, for now. Steve turned to grin at her over his shoulder before continuing his conversation with Dustin.

“An interdimensional slug? Because it’s awesome,” Dustin informed him.

“Well, even if she thought it was cool, which she didn’t…I don’t know, I just feel like you’re trying way too hard, man,” Steve said.

“Well, not everyone can have your perfect hair, alright?” Dustin said irritably.

“It’s not about the hair, man. The key with girls is just…acting like you don’t care,” Steve said with a shrug.

“And how’s that working out for you, Harrington?” Lisa asked casually as she dumped another slimy clump of meat onto the tracks.

“Really, Henderson?” Steve said, rolling his eyes at her.

Dustin stopped walking and turned around, narrowing his eyes at her, “Lisa, please, the men are talking here.”

Lisa fixed him with a look, “oh really? Where?”

He scowled and kept walking along the tracks, and Lisa sighed, “look, Dustin, girls don’t like being ignored. It’s just rude. And don’t intentionally be an asshole either. That just sucks for everyone.”

Dustin stopped walking, looking uncharacteristically solemn as he chose his next words carefully, “I’m sorry about Billy.”

Lisa stopped walking too, and Steve kept walking ahead to give them a moment.

Dustin fumbled awkwardly and dropped his bucket, “aw shit, stupid son of a bitch- ahem. Anyway, I’m glad you’re not with him anymore, but I’m sorry that you…well, that you’re dealing with shittiness. That part is, uh, shitty.”

“So that’s why you’ve been trying to be nice to me,” she said, quirking a smile at him.

“Excuse you, I’m always nice,” he retorted, but he was smiling back. “You deserve better than that asshole.”

“Thanks, bud,” she said with a chuckle, but it faded as her thoughts went back to that pit of guilt that had upset her so much earlier that morning.

“Me and Steve will beat him up for you, right, Steve?” Dustin said brightly, fortunately not seeing the change in her features.

Steve nodded, “oh yeah, count me in. He’s got nothin’ on us, man. If I see him again I’ll-”

“Can we not talk about this? Please," Lisa said abruptly, and the two boys shared a glance and nodded.

Lisa coughed awkwardly and started walking again, encouraging them to do the same in front of her, “anyway, Dustin, how do you know this girl is even interested? If she’s not, you might just be wasting your time.”

Dustin let out a long-suffering sigh, “I don’t know if she is or not, she’s hard to read.”

“Who is she anyway? A girl in your class?” Lisa asked.

“Yeah,” Dustin said with a shrug, and then he glanced at Steve who walked next to him. “So, if I did act like I didn’t care, then what?”

Steve considered that for a moment before replying, “you just wait until you, uh, you feel it.”

“Feel what?”

“It’s like, before it’s gonna storm, you know? You can’t see it, but you can feel it, like this, uh…electricity, you know?” Steve felt his neck growing warm as he noticed Lisa’s attention fixed on him.

Dustin nodded, “oh, like in the electromagnetic field when the clouds in the atmosphere-”

“No, no, no, no,” Steve shook his head, “like a…like a sexual electricity.”

Lisa cringed, “Steve, he’s thirteen.”

Steve looked at her and held his hands up in surrender, “I’m just helping the kid out. Anyway, man, you feel that and then you make your move.”

“That’s when you kiss her?”

“Woah, woah, woah, slow down, Romeo,” Steve shook his head incredulously, “sure, okay, some girls yeah, they want you to be aggressive-”

“Not aggressive, Steve,” Lisa interrupted.

“Fine then, you explain,” he mumbled.

Lisa sighed, “some girls like a guy who comes on strong, and other girls like when a guy takes things slow, and isn’t too full-on. Some like a mix of the two.”

She kicked at the stones under her feet as she walked and Steve watched her, wanting her to keep talking. He didn’t know what he wanted her to say but he couldn’t help but be curious.

“That is no help whatsoever,” Dustin told her.

Lisa narrowed her gaze, “I’m just saying, a lot of the time you have to get to know someone better as a person to know how to approach them romantically.”

Steve nodded in agreement, “yeah, it depends on the type of girl. Sometimes you gotta be, I dunno, stealthy. Like a ninja.”

“What type is Nancy?” Dustin asked and Steve faltered slightly.

Lisa stepped on the back of Dustin’s sneaker and he tripped slightly, “Nancy is none of your business, Dustin.”

“Whatever,” Dustin muttered, flipping her off over his shoulder, and then he cleared his throat, “it’s just, this girl’s special, you know? It’s just like…there’s just something about her-”

“Woah, dude,” Lisa stood in front of him with her hand up, stopping him in his tracks. “You sound like you’re falling for this girl.”

“Oh, no, I’m not,” Dustin said hurriedly.

“Good,” Steve said as he caught up with them. “Don’t. She’s only gonna break your heart and you’re way too young for that shit.”

“Steve…” Lisa said sympathetically.

Steve mirrored her look, “Lisa.”

She waved her hand dismissively, “don’t look at me like that. It’s not the same, I don’t- I wasn’t in love with Billy.”

Steve raised his brows, “you weren’t?”

Lisa shrugged, “we were together for less than two months. I think it takes longer than that to be in love. Was it intense? Yeah. Were there feelings there? Sure. But I wasn’t in love.”

Steve considered her for a moment, “and if you’d been with him for longer?”

‘Would you have fallen for him?’ Was the silent question.

Lisa was quiet as she thought about it, “maybe.”

Steve suddenly felt as though his insides had tried to fall out of him, like on a very uncomfortable and very fast rollercoaster.

“Yuck. Anyway,” Dustin said impatiently.

“Anyway,” Steve repeated, brushing off his discomfort to redirect the conversation. “Fabergé.”

“What?” Lisa and Dustin answered simultaneously.

Steve pointed to his hair, his pride and joy, but wore a somewhat bashful expression, “it’s Fabergé Organics. Use the shampoo and the conditioner, and when your hair’s damp- not wet, okay? When it’s damp, you do four puffs of the Farrah Fawcett spray.”

Lisa chuckled and flicked her own hair over her shoulder, half of the brown curls tied up in a scrunchie, “that’s the hairspray I use, I have for years.”

Steve smiled bashfully at her, “where do you think I got the inspiration?”

Lisa blinked in surprise, and Steve held her gaze until Dustin spoke up, “wait, Farrah Fawcett spray?”

Steve glared at him, “yeah, Farrah Fawcett. You tell anyone I just told you that and your ass is grass. You’re dead, Henderson. Do you understand?”

“Steve?” Lisa said, butting in.

“Yeah?”

“Please don’t threaten my brother, that’s my job,” she said.

Steve snorted, “yes, ma’am.”

—

They got to the old junkyard on top of the hill that Lisa and Dustin had found when they’d first moved to Hawkins five years ago, and had taken their bikes out to explore the town.

The abandoned cars and buses had made for a very exciting hangout spot for kids, and teenagers too, Lisa noted as she saw the empty beer bottles strewn around the grass.

“Oh, yeah. This’ll do,” Steve said appreciatively, taking off his sunglasses as he surveyed the area. “This will do just fine.”

“Is he always this dramatic?” Dustin asked as they watched Steve walking away.

“Yes, always,” Lisa said.

“He’s kinda cool, but don’t tell him I said that,” Dustin told her.

“I won’t.”

“Lisa, I really am sorry about Dart,” Dustin admitted awkwardly.

Lisa sighed loudly, “it’s okay. We’ll just…capture him or whatever. And no more keeping secrets.”

“I’m sorry my ex boyfriend tried to run you over with his car on Halloween,” Lisa said.

Dustin’s brows shot up, “how the hell did you find out about that?”

“I have my sources,” Lisa replied, and before he could answer she pulled the peak of his baseball hat down over his face and walked away.

Within minutes, another voice caught their attention, “hey! I figured you’d be here!”

They looked over and saw Lucas there with his bike, and someone else who Lisa immediately recognised.

“Where the hell have you been!?” Dustin demanded furiously.

“Hey Lucas, Max,” Lisa said, giving them a wave. They’d clearly gotten over whatever argument they’d had on Friday outside the middle school.

“Hey, Lisa,” Max answered, giving a small smile as she walked over.

“Hold up, you two know each other?” Dustin asked.

“Lisa gave me free tokens and sodas at the arcade over the summer,” Max said nonchalantly.

“How come we never got free tokens?” Lucas demanded furiously.

“Because she doesn’t annoy me like you two do,” Lisa said before turning back to Max, “wait, what are you doing here?”

Max shrugged again, “catching alien lizards apparently.”

“Wait, you told her!?” Dustin half shrieked at Lucas, and then he dragged him away to convene privately behind an old car.

Lisa rolled her eyes and shared an amused look with Max, and then glanced at Steve, “right, let’s get started. Anything flat and solid you can find, sheets of metal, planks of wood, anything solid. Also, Max, this is Steve.”

“‘Sup,” she said with disinterest and he nodded in acknowledgement before walking off, shaking his head like a long-suffering parent.

Max studied Lisa and bit her lip, “are you…um, okay? I’m guessing you dumped Billy.”

Lisa tried unsuccessfully to pull a wooden pallet from under a pile of threadbare old mattresses, careful not to touch anything that anyone may have…used.

“He told you?”

Max shook her head, “no, but…he was pretty upset. Slamming things around and shit. More than usual. I’ve never seen him like that, so I assumed you dumped him.”

Lisa grimaced but nodded and Max bent down to help her pull the pallet from under the heavy mattress, “I’m glad you did it. You’re too good for him.”

“So people keep saying,” Lisa mumbled as they pulled it free.

Max gave her a pointed look, “it’s true, so believe it.”

“Thanks, Max.”

Max nodded, “and thank you for…well, you know.”

Lisa gave her a smile, “sure, and I meant it when I said to call if you need to. Seriously.”

A real smile crossed the girl’s freckled face, and then a clang of metal caught their attention.

Steve had found Dustin and Lucas behind a burnt out car and had smacked a metal chair he’d found on its bonnet, startling them.

“Hey! Dickheads! How come the only one helping Lisa and me out is this random girl? We lose light in forty minutes! Let’s go.”

He began to walk away, yelling over his shoulder, “let’s go, I said!”

“Alright, asshole! God!” Dustin snapped as they followed him.

“Stupid,” Lucas muttered indignantly, barely resisting the urge to flip off Steve’s retreating back.

Lisa and Max shared a glance and giggled at the boys’ expense, then went to find more useful material for the next stage of their mission.

Chapter Text

The sky was almost dark as Lisa sat on the roof of the old school bus that acted as the centrepiece of the small junkyard. She was using the rope Dustin had packed to tie down the number of old tires that Steve and Dustin had passed up to her.

She gave them a tug, and once satisfied that they weren’t going to budge, she climbed down through the window in the roof to where the others sat on the remaining seats.

When the sun had disappeared completely, Lucas climbed up through the window and lay on his front on the roof, ready to keep watch through his binoculars for Dart to arrive.

There was a pile of the remaining raw beef lying in a pile in the centre of the junkyard, and they hoped that Dart would be hungry enough to take the bait.

Lisa sat with her feet up on a pair of seats next to the ladder, while Steve sat flicking his lighter, sitting on the floor across from her.

“Psst, Lisa,” Lisa looked up to see Lucas holding up his backpack. “Could you put this somewhere? I don’t want it to fall off the roof.”

She nodded and stood up, reaching up to take the backpack from him as he lowered it down, and Steve felt his eyes wandering, completely out of his control.

Lisa’s t-shirt was riding up under her jacket as she reached up, and he couldn’t look away from the mere two inches of bare skin he could see showing above the waistband of her jeans.

He felt a hard kick in the side of his leg and jolted in surprise, snapping out of his daze as though he’d been slapped in the face.

He looked up at Dustin, the source of the kick, who leaned into whisper sharply, “stop ogling my sister.”

“I’m not-”

“So, you really fought one of these things before?” Max asked Lisa, unknowingly interrupting a potential argument just as the older girl stepped down off the ladder and sat back down on her seat.

Steve nodded, and Lisa answered as she picked up her trusty axe, “sure did.”

Max frowned, “and you’re, like, totally, hundred-percent sure it wasn’t a bear?”

“Shit- don’t be an idiot, okay? It wasn’t a bear,” Dustin snapped. “Why are you even here if you don’t believe us? Just go home.”

Lisa and Steve shared a wide-eyed look at the outburst.

Lisa turned her gaze to her brother, “Dustin, just chill out. She was asking a perfectly reasonable question.”

“Whatever,” Dustin muttered.

“Yeesh, someone’s cranky,” Max said, standing up. “Past your bedtime?”

She gave him a pointed look before she climbed the ladder to join Lucas on top of the bus.

Steve watched Dustin as he paced agitatedly, scrambling for something to say, “yeah, that’s good. Just show her that you don’t care.”

Lisa groaned, “Steve, stop encouraging him to be a dickhead.”

“I don’t care,” Dustin said furiously, and Steve gave him a very unsubtle wink of encouragement.

“Why are you winking, Steve? Stop.”

Lisa chuckled, “you still can’t wink, huh?”

“Shut up,” Steve muttered, but he couldn’t fight the smile that grew on his face.

After a silent few minutes, Lisa moved her legs and patted the seat next to her. Steve flashed a smile and got up from his position on the floor and sat on the seat.

She sat with her back to the wall of the bus and crossed her legs to give him room while still facing him. She eyed Dustin who was now sitting alone and pulling worn stuffing out of a seat.

As Steve made himself comfortable in the seat, Lisa studied him, “how are you doing? We’ve talked about my relationship drama already, so don’t try and change the subject.”

“Oh. I’m good, actually. This monster hunting business is really calming for me,” he said with a one-shouldered shrug.

“Steve,” she gave him a pointed look that told him to cut the bullshit.

He sighed and leaned his head on the back of the seat, “I’m fine, I guess. I wanted to talk to Nancy, to fix things, but maybe there’s nothing to be fixed.”

“Steve, c’mon. You don’t mean that,” Lisa said, leaning in a bit to look at him.

Steve shifted and stared down at the lighter in his hand for a moment and then looked up to meet her eye, “I dunno, maybe…Maybe I do mean it.”

They looked at each other for a long moment, and Lisa opened her mouth to ask what he meant by that, but a guttural shriek from outside the bus made them all jump in fright.

In his shock, Steve had accidentally put his hand on Lisa’s, and he fumbled with a flustered apology as they hurriedly got to their feet.

“Lucas?” Lisa whispered up the ladder. “See anything?”

Steve peered through the window between the sheets of metal they’d hammered onto the exterior of the bus, and Dustin was next to him in an instant.

“Hold on,” Lucas said down to her, lifting up his binoculars. Then he gasped and spoke quietly, “I’ve got eyes. Ten o’clock.”

Lisa nodded and turned to relay the information to Steve and Dustin, “Lucas has eyes, ten o’clock.”

They looked slightly to the left, and spotted the four-legged creature approaching through the fog.

“There,” Steve pointed, and Lisa walked over to look out the window too.

“What’s it doing?” she asked as the creature observed the pile of raw meat they’d left in the middle of the grass.

“I don’t know,” Steve murmured, and they watched as the creature moved away from the meat without touching it. “He’s not taking the bait. Why is he not taking the bait?”

“Maybe he’s not hungry?” Dustin suggested.

“Or maybe he’s sick of cow,” Lisa said gravely, and an ominous silence hung between them.

Steve straightened up and walked away from the window, lingering by the ladder for a moment, his mind racing. And then he turned and met Lisa’s eye with an expression she was growing familiar with.

Steve had made up his mind about something, and there would be no talking him out of it.

She gave him an anxious look, “Steve?”

He let out a long breath and then picked up his bat and made for the door of the bus, Lisa and Dustin following behind.

“Steve, what are you doing?” Dustin demanded nervously.

He pulled his lighter out of his pocket and looked to Dustin, “just get ready.”

He tossed the lighter to him, and Dustin caught it and shared a worried look with Lisa.

Steve opened the door of the bus, but Lisa rushed forward to grab him by the front of his jacket and pulled him back a step.

“Steve, what the hell are you doing?”

“We have to get this thing, Lise,” he told her, his hand on her wrist as she held firmly onto his jacket.

“Well, okay, just give me a second and I’ll get my axe-”

Steve shook his head and put his hand on her shoulder and pushed her back gently, “no, you’re staying here. Someone has to keep an eye on these idiots.”

“Like hell I’m leaving you to-”

“Lisa,” he whispered to her, giving her a pleading look. “Do you trust me?”

She stared wide-eyed at him, but then dropped her eyes and nodded reluctantly, “just be careful. Come back at the first sign of trouble.”

He gave her a cocky grin that she saw right through, and moved out of her grip and pulled the door of the bus open enough for him to squeeze through.

He stepped down onto the grass and shut the door firmly between them.

Lisa put her hand on the closed door, her heart beginning to race in her chest. Then with a sharp exhale, she stepped back from the door and picked up her axe from where she’d propped it against the wall.

“What the hell is he doing?” Max demanded as she hurried down the ladder.

“Expanding the menu,” Dustin said casually.

“Shut up, Dustin,” Lisa hissed.

“What? It’s the truth,” Dustin said defensively.

They watched through the window as Steve slowly crossed the small field, swinging his bat and looking around nervously.

Lisa felt sick with nerves as she watched Steve using himself as bait while the rest of them watched, too far away to intervene if something went wrong.

“He’s insane,” Max whispered.

“He’s awesome,” Dustin said with a grin as Steve swung the bat back and forth, attempting to provoke Dart to come out of the fog.

Just then, they heard Lucas screaming from the roof, “Steve! Watch out! Three o’clock! Three o’clock!”

Lisa’s gaze darted to their right, and she saw another Demodog climbing over a wrecked car, Dustin and Max gasped in horror, and Lisa immediately stepped back from the window.

“Fuck this,” she whispered, lifting her axe and stalking to the door.

“What are you doing!?” Dustin half-shrieked.

“I’m saving his ass, is what I’m doing, stay here,” she instructed, yanking the door open and shutting it firmly behind her.

“Steve! On your right!” she shouted, slowly making her way towards him with her axe raised and her eyes scanning their surroundings as the second creature stalked them like the prey they were.

“Lisa? What the hell are you-”

“Saving your ass, there’s two of them," she said in a rush as she finally reached him and stood with her back to his.

Their weapons were raised and they were ready as the second Demodog ran at them and lunged. Lisa swung her axe and hit it with the blunt edge, feeling a wet crunch under the impact, and it slinked away with an angry whine.

And that’s when she saw two more stalking them through the fog, “shit, there’s two more!”

“Oh, great, this is just great,” Steve muttered hysterically.

They heard Dustin shouting from the bus, “Lisa! Steve! Abort! Abort!”

“We’ll have to make a run for it-” Steve was cut off when one of the creatures opened his large maw and ran at them.

Steve grabbed Lisa by the hand and pulled her after him in a run towards an abandoned car.

Steve had just slid across the bonnet as a Demodog clambered onto the roof of the car, and Lisa leapt back just in time, her back hitting the grass with a thud in her effort to dodge the creature.

She scrambled to her feet, winded, while Steve hit the creature on the car with his bat, and she used her axe to fend off the other one that had run towards them.

Their eyes met over the bonnet of the car, and in silent agreement, they backed away until they were close enough to reach for each other.

Steve took Lisa by the hand and they locked eyes as they interlocked their fingers.

“Ready?” He whispered.

“Ready,” she whispered back with a nod, stepping back slowly to angle them in the direction of the bus.

“Now!” Steve said urgently, and they ran.

The screams of the others guided them in the right direction as they sprinted for their lives as the four-legged monsters chased them, growling furiously as their claws tore up the earth in their wake.

The door of the bus was open as the kids screamed and urgently motioned for them to hurry.

Steve wrapped his arms around Lisa and propelled them both into the bus, and they hit the ground with a painful thud as the others slammed the doors behind them.

They’d made it with seconds to spare, as the demodogs threw themselves against the barricaded doors where they’d been only a moment before.

Still on the floor in a heap with Steve’s arms around her, Lisa screamed in fright as the small pack of Demodogs slammed against the door.

Steve eased himself off of her to lean his full weight against the door as the others shrieked in fright.

“Are they rabid or something!?” Max shouted over the noise.

Lisa joined Steve at the door, leaning her shoulder against the corrugated iron sheet they’d secured to it, and they all screamed in terror as a clawed limb smashed through a gap in their barricade. It came through the wall next to the door, right in front of her face.

“Holy shit!” Dustin screamed, and he hauled Lisa back from the door, dragging her towards the adjacent wall of the bus, while Steve hit the grasping claw with his bat until it retreated.

“They can’t get in! They can’t!” Lucas yelled, trying to reassure both them and himself.

A particularly hard impact on the barricaded door sent Steve stumbling backwards, and Lisa reached over to pull him to his feet, just as the bus shook with sudden impact from all sides.

Lisa and Steve shared a look of horror, and everyone jolted in shock as the roof buckled slightly as one of the creatures climbed on top.

A sudden sick feeling went through Lisa as she looked up at the roof, but upon seeing that the roof window had been secured, she let out a breath of short-lived relief as the bus rocked again.

The four-legged monsters threw themselves at the vehicle’s hastily armoured exterior, their claws tearing strips out of the wood, steel, and metal guards they’d nailed or tied onto it.

Steve darted forward and shoved the sheet of corrugated iron back against the door, leaning heavily against it while Lisa snatched up her axe from where she’d dropped it.

A clawed limb came back through the hole in the wall that had almost taken her head off, and she swung her axe at it, using both the heavy blunt side of the head and the sharp bladed side.

“Is anyone there!?” Dustin yelled into his Walkie-Talkie. “Mike? Will? God? Anyone!?”

They screamed again as the bus rocked and creaked under the weight of the attack of at least four Demodogs.

“We’re at the old junkyard!” Dustin screamed into the radio, “and we are going to die!”

“That’s the spirit, Dustin!” Lisa yelled at her brother as she broke the claw of a Demodog clean off with a swipe of her axe as it tried to get through the gap in the wall.

And then the attack stopped, and all they could hear was numerous heavy treads on the roof above them.

They stood in a tense, frightened silence as the sound got louder, and then Max looked up and screamed as a head stuck through the window on the roof, having pulled the plexiglass cover off its hinges.

Lucas pulled Max back, and Lisa quickly pushed Dustin back with them, “get back! Get back!”

Steve took position in front of them all, his bat held in front of him as he yelled at the faceless creature, “you want some!? Come get this!”

But to their utter surprise, the creature didn’t attack, instead it swivelled its head around and backed away. Then, the bus rocked as all four of the Demodogs leapt off the roof, until all they could hear was retreating scampering outside.

“Are they gone?” Lisa whispered, sharing a confused look with Steve as they lowered their weapons.

They edged towards the door, and Steve opened it cautiously just as the last Demodog disappeared from view in the distance.

“What happened?” Lucas asked.

“I don’t know,” Max said, looking around nervously.

“Steve scared ‘em off?” Dustin suggested half-heartedly, and Lisa frowned, unconvinced.

“No,” Steve said gravely, meeting Lisa’s gaze worriedly. “No way. They’re going somewhere.”

“They were called somewhere,” Lisa said as she looked towards where the Demodogs ran to.

A tense silence fell among their group, and without speaking, they followed in the wake of the creatures.

—

The five of them walked back along the abandoned railway tracks in a stunned silence, keeping a cautious eye out for any danger as they went.

“So, you’re positive that was Dart?” Lucas asked Dustin.

“Yes, he had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt,” Dustin said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“He was small only a few days ago,” Max commented. “Much smaller.”

“Well, he’s molted three times already,” Dustin said coolly.

“Malted?” Steve asked.

“Molted,” Lisa corrected, and Steve gave her a grimace as he understood.

“Shed his skin to make room for growth, like hornworms,” Dustin explained.

“When’s he gonna molt again?” Lisa asked her brother.

He sighed, “it’s gotta be soon. When he does, he’ll be fully grown, or close to it. And so will his friends.”

“Yeah, and he’s gonna eat a lot more than just cats,” Steve noted.

Lucas grabbed Dustin, “wait, a cat? Dart ate a cat?”

“No, what? No,” Dustin mumbled defensively.

“What are you talking about? He ate Mews,” Steve said casually.

Lisa grabbed his arm and glared pointedly at him, “Steve-”

“Mews? Who’s Mews?” Max asked.

“It’s the Hendersons’ cat-”

“Steve!” Dustin yelled in frustration, and Lisa groaned and put her face in her hands.

“I knew it! You kept him!” Lucas said furiously.

“No!” Dustin insisted weakly, “no. No, I…He missed me. He wanted to come home.”

“Bullshit!” Lucas shouted.

“I didn’t know he was a Demogorgon, okay!”

“Oh, so now you admit it?”

“Guys, just leave it. We have to go,” Lisa tried to reason with the two arguing boys. Max scowled in exasperation, and Steve looked slightly guilty at having dropped Dustin in it with Lucas.

Lucas pointed at Dustin, “you put the party in jeopardy! You broke the rule of law!”

“So did you!”

“What?”

“You told a stranger the truth!” Dustin rudely shone his torch in Max’s eyes, and Lisa snatched it from him so he wouldn’t blind the girl.

Lisa glared at them all as she walked back ahead to where Steve led the group, “guys, now is not the time for this. Let’s go-”

Max straightened up and scoffed, “a stranger?”

“You wanted to tell her too!” Lucas screamed at Dustin.

“But I didn’t, Lucas, okay!?” Dustin screamed back.

A sound in the distance caught Lisa’s attention, and she tugged on Steve’s sleeve, “Steve, did you hear that?”

His brow furrowed and he followed her gaze towards the treeline, a distant screeching sound echoing through the trees, “what is that?”

She looked at him anxiously, “I have no idea.”

“Hey, guys?” He called back to the others, but they didn’t hear him over the sound of their own arguing.

“Guys!” Lisa shouted at them and they stopped arguing, realisation dawning on their faces when they heard the screeching too.

She nodded her head towards the trees, holding up her axe, and then began to walk into the woods with Steve close behind her.

“Do you think it’s a nest of some sort?” she asked Steve.

“Who knows, but the idea is making me want to turn back,” he replied.

They got to the edge of the trees, which led to a dead end, only a cliff lay ahead of them. Lucas took his binoculars out of his backpack and looked into the darkness ahead for some indication of where to go.

“I don’t see them anywhere,” Dustin said, looking around.

“It’s…It’s the lab,” Lucas said nervously, lowering his binoculars. “They were going back home.”

“Well, that’s just great,” Steve said, running a hand through his hair. “Just great.”

Lisa let out a weary sigh, “I guess we’re going to the lab.”

Chapter Text

Lisa and Steve led Dustin, Lucas and Max down the hillside in the direction of the lab, finding a steep but walkable route between the undergrowth and brambles.

Just as they got to the edge of the treeline, they heard low voices and Lisa held out her arm to stop the kids from walking any further.

She met Steve’s eye in the light reflecting from their torches and he shrugged, but his face was tight with worry.

Looking back at Dustin, Lucas and Max she gave them a grave look as she spoke in a near-whisper, “Steve and I will go ahead and do not-” she glared at them as the three of them attempted to interject, “-follow us until we give the all-clear.”

They nodded reluctantly, and after a brief glance with Steve, the two of them made their way through the trees, switching off their torches as they got closer.

A small stick snapped under Steve’s shoe and the voices stopped abruptly, causing Lisa and Steve to freeze where they stood.

“Did you hear that?”

“Hello? Who’s there?”

Lisa felt her jaw drop and she gave Steve a wide-eyed look, “no way- Jonathan!?”

She hurried forward through the trees just as she heard Nancy’s voice calling out, “Lisa?”

“Nancy?” Steve asked once he heard her.

“Was that Steve?” they heard Jonathan ask.

Steve felt a mixture of surprise and wariness, but he remembered to flash his torch up the hill to signal to the others that it was safe to follow.

Lisa stood staring at Nancy and Jonathan who were standing at the gate into the lab, looking as shocked as Lisa felt.

She shook her head in disbelief, “what the hell?”

Nancy rushed forward and took Lisa by the arms, “what are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here, Nancy?” Lisa demanded, suddenly furious.

Nancy’s gaze went to Jonathan, and the look they shared made Lisa very uneasy.

She turned her own gaze to Jonathan, “both of you, vanishing for two days, with no explanation!”

Jonathan was flustered under her glare, “Lisa, we can explain-”

“We’re looking for Mike and Will,” Nancy interrupted him suddenly, her eyes suddenly wide.

Lisa glanced over her shoulder to see Steve pushing through the trees behind her, his expression hardening as he looked between Nancy and Jonathan.

Steve opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted as Dustin, Lucas and Max burst through the trees at a run.

“Mike and Will?” Lucas repeated anxiously.

“They’re not in there, are they?” Dustin asked, slightly breathless as he pointed to the lab.

“We’re not sure…” Nancy said, eyeing them dubiously.

“Why?” Jonathan asked Dustin, his brows pinched in concern.

Before anyone could answer him, a loud chorus of screeches reverberated from the site of the lab, which Lisa noticed to be without power aside from the emergency lights they’d seen from the hill.

“Shit- okay, so the Demogorgons are back,” Lisa said hurriedly, pushing aside the hundreds of questions she had for Nancy and Jonathan. “We were tracking one, then there were at least four when they attacked us, and they headed in this direction for some reason.”

“Hold on, you were attacked by four Demogorgons?” Jonathan asked in disbelief.

“Demodogs,” Dustin corrected. “Demogorgons that walk on all-fours. And yes, that’s why we’re here.”

“And you guys haven’t seen Will or Mike?” Jonathan asked.

Dustin shook his head, “we haven’t seen them since-”

Nancy pushed past them all, as the space around them suddenly brightened, “the power’s back!”

“Why did it go out in the first place?” she asked.

Nancy shook her head anxiously, “we don’t know, all we know is that now we stand a chance of getting inside.”

“Hold on- you want to go in there?” Steve demanded, finding his voice again after the initial shock of finding Nancy and Jonathan had worn off slightly.

Nancy didn’t meet his eye but she nodded, and then she and Jonathan were hurrying over to the barrier where Jonathan’s car was stopped.

Jonathan went into the security booth, repeatedly pressing the buttons inside to open both the barrier and the gate.

Dustin pushed into the security booth and shoved Jonathan away, “let me try, Jonathan!”

He furiously pressed the buttons, as though he would have more success than Jonathan at opening the gate, which he didn’t.

He stopped pressing the buttons and threw his hands up in annoyance, “son of a bitch!”

“Told you,” Jonathan muttered, but then the gates suddenly opened, to everyone’s surprise.

“Hey! I got it!” Dustin said, pumping a fist in the air.

“Sure you did, bud,” Lisa said dryly.

Nancy looked at them all, “there’s too many of us, so we’ll go ahead with the car, the rest of you stay here.”

“Like hell you’re running off by yourselves again,” Lisa snapped, yanking open one of the doors and jumping in just as Jonathan started driving.

“Lisa, c’mon!” Jonathan groaned, but he kept driving up the long driveway to the lab.

Lisa folded her arms and scowled, glaring at the back of their heads, “I don’t know what the hell is going on with you two, but quit leaving me out when I know just as much as you do about all this shit. Not to mention vanishing and then just expecting me to cover for you with zero explanation.”

“What do you mean? There’s nothing going on with us!” Nancy defended shrilly, responding only to one particular part of Lisa’s rant.

“Excuse me?” Lisa said with a low voice.

The front of the car fell into silence, and when Lisa leaned forward to look at Jonathan, she saw that his knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel.

And then it clicked in Lisa’s brain, and she felt sick because Steve was just down the drive, thinking that Nancy was still his girlfriend.

“You hooked up,” she said, barely able to get the words out.

“It just happened, okay?” Nancy said weakly, looking pained as she turned to face Lisa.

Lisa’s eyes filled with angry tears, “are you fucking kidding me, Nancy?”

Nancy’s eyes filled with tears of shame as she took in Lisa’s expression.

“Look, can we talk about this later!?” Jonathan said agitatedly.

“You bet your ass we will,” Lisa snapped, tearing her eyes away from Nancy to look out the window towards the lab.

Just then, she saw movement near the front door, “oh my god!”

Jonathan sped the car forward, and as they got nearer, Lisa spotted Hopper carrying an unconscious Will on his shoulder, and half-dragging a hysterical Joyce away from the doors.

Lisa was out of the car just as Jonathan skidded to a stop, and she herded Mike into the back seat, and hurried over to Hopper.

She saw he was having difficulty managing both of the Byers, so she wordlessly wrapped her arms around Joyce, horror sinking in as she saw the blood spattered glass doors and the Demodogs that clawed at them.

Nancy and Mike beckoned Joyce into the back seat, and Jonathan helped Hopper to guide Will’s unconscious form into the back seat, across Mike and Joyce’s laps.

“What the hell happened?” she asked the chief as Jonathan climbed back into the driver’s seat.

Hopper stared at her, “who the hell are you?”

She blinked at him, “Lisa Henderson. We just tracked those things here”

“Jesus Christ,” he grumbled, shaking his head. “My truck is just over here, come with me.”

“Jonathan, go ahead!” she said, knocking his window twice, and he nodded and drove off.

Lisa climbed into the front seat of the Chief's truck and wordlessly took the shotgun from him as he tried to start the car with bloodied hands slipping on the keys.

“Here-” she took the keys from him and wiped them clean on her T-shirt, and he nodded in thanks as he took them back and successfully started the truck.

He sped away from the lab, hands gripping the steering wheel tightly, “so what, there’s a whole club of you just running around after these things?”

“Something like that. Dustin is my brother, he told me everything after we fought a Demogorgon last year,” she answered quickly.

She was fortunate that she had never had a reason to come face-to-face with the chief of police before now.

“Henderson- yeah, no offence but your brother’s a little shit,” Hopper said, swerving out of the parking lot and onto the long driveway.

“Trust me, I know,” she said, holding onto the handle above the window. “What happened in there? What’s wrong with Will?”

Hopper shook his head, “I’ll explain when we get the hell out of here. You said there’s more of you?”

“Yeah, they’re at the gate up ahead,” she told him, and he nodded and put his foot down on the accelerator.

At the end of the driveway by the barrier, Nancy rolled down the window as Jonathan beeped his car horn, signalling the others to get out of the way.

Steve leaned down and looked into the car at them all, anxiety eating at him, “what- where the hell is Lisa?”

Nancy was taken aback slightly, but she gestured behind them, “she’s with Hopper, we’re going ahead back to the Byers’ house. We’ll see you there.”

Steve nodded and stood back as they sped off, and the headlights of the Chief’s truck weren’t far behind.

Steve couldn’t explain the relief he felt as Lisa jumped out of the truck.

He just stared as she yanked open the rear door, waving at the kids and half shoving them into the back seat.

“Come on! Get in!” She shouted, and then looked expectantly at Steve. “You too!”

“Hey- if you’re not gonna fit in there I’m definitely not,” Steve exclaimed, horrified.

“I could try to squeeze in-”

Hopper scowled, “I don’t care if you’ve to sit on his lap, just get in the damn truck!”

Steve grimaced and slammed the rear door shut again, and then quickly climbed into the front passenger seat, sliding as close to the chief and his handbrake as he could.

He gave Lisa an apologetic look and held out his hand to help her in.

She took his hand, and did in fact end up sitting half on his lap as she pulled the car door shut.

As soon as the door closed, the chief sped off, and Lisa ended up putting her whole weight onto Steve’s legs.

“Sorry,” she muttered, mortified.

“It’s um, it’s fine,” he responded in a whisper and everyone winced as Hopper took a sharp bend far too quickly.

They both ignored the fact that his arms had automatically gone around her waist, but he chose not to move them considering seatbelts would be impossible in their current situation.

“I’m going to die,” Lisa whispered hysterically.

“If you die then we’re both dead,” Steve answered a bit too loudly.

“No one is dying, calm down!” Hopper barked.

Steve tightened his arms around Lisa’s middle and she had no choice but to lean back against his chest.

Despite the awkwardness of the situation, she did in face feel more secure, despite Hopper’s insane driving.

“Consider retaking driver’s ed after tonight,” Lisa said to the chief before she could stop herself.

“Consider who the hell you’re talking to,” Hopper snapped, and Lisa could’ve sworn his mustache bristled in anger.

“Yikes,” Steve whispered, and she was suddenly all too aware of how close his mouth was to her neck.

She felt her face growing hot, but then the chief almost tipped the truck over when he turned into the Byers’ front yard.

They all stumbled out of the car, and Lisa looked at Steve’s expression before they started walking quickly towards the house.

“I’m so sorry-” she said but he waved a hand in dismissal.

“Lise, relax.”

His expression relaxed into a smile as he looked down at her, and he put his hand on her back as they walked into the house, both of them mentally preparing themselves for the chief’s debrief.

—

After a brief explanation of the details, with Mike adding in more details afterwards, they all sat around the living room and kitchen in a tense silence.

Jim Hopper shouted down the phone essentially begging for help and armed back up, telling whoever was on the other end that people in Hawkins lab had been killed.

Lisa was leaning against the wall, listening to the call, and she glanced over to where Jonathan was talking to an unconscious Will, who lay on the living room couch.

Nancy stood behind him as he crouched on the carpet beside the couch, and Lisa watched as she put her hand on Jonathan’s shoulder and gave him a comforting squeeze.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Steve straightening up and watching the exchange, his eyes landing on Nancy’s hand on Jonathan’s shoulder, and how she was looking at him.

Steve had tried to ignore the nagging feeling he had that there was something between Nancy and Jonathan, especially since he’d jumped to that conclusion before, but now he couldn’t help it.

And seeing how she was comforting Jonathan, he just knew.

Lisa saw the exact moment that Steve put the pieces together in his mind.

Steve stared at them, and the realisation hit him like a slap to the face and he quickly wiped his eyes which had welled up without him realising.

He walked away and out of the back door, slamming it behind him.

“Steve-” Lisa tried to call out to him but the door had already clicked shut.

Nancy hurried over, “is he okay?”

Lisa ran a frustrated hand through her curls, “what do you think, Nancy?”

“You’re pissed at me,” Nancy said, biting her lip. “I deserve it.”

“Yes, I am,” Lisa said. “And yes, I think you do.”

Nancy nodded, “let’s talk.”

—

They walked down the hall to Jonathan’s room, shutting the door behind them, “it just happened. Just last night.”

“You keep saying ‘just’, but Steve has just spent the last few days wondering how he can fix your relationship.”

It came out more sharply than she intended, but it had to be said.

Nancy’s face fell, “oh.”

“Yes, ‘oh’,” Lisa said, pacing furiously.

“I’ve been a terrible person, I know,” Nancy said softly, sitting down on the bed. “To Steve, and…and to you, Lisa. I’ve been a shitty friend.”

Lisa felt tears fill her eyes, “it’s just…we both lost Barb, Nance.”

“I know-”

“No, you don’t know. Not really,” Lisa answered, her voice cracking with tears. “You found out what really happened to her and took you weeks to tell me. Weeks, Nancy. You’ve been beating yourself up over it, and suffering in silence ever since. You’re hurting, I know that, I do. The thing is, I lost her too, but you never gave us the chance to get through it together.”

This was a conversation that was long overdue, but Lisa couldn’t stop the words as they came out in a flood

“You’ve lost one best friend, please don’t push another one away,” she said in a hoarse whisper.

Nancy stared at her tearfully, her mouth having fallen open slightly, at a loss for words.

Lisa covered her face with her hands, ashamed, “I’m sorry.”

She felt Nancy’s arms around her in a hug, “no, Lisa. No. You’re completely right.”

Lisa took her hands from her face and wrapped her arms around Nancy to return the hug with equal fierceness.

The two girls stood like that for a long moment, both really needing that hug.

“I’m so sorry, Lisa,” Nancy mumbled against her shoulder.

“I know, Nance,” Lisa replied, her cheek against Nancy’s shoulder. “Let me be there for you. With you.”

Nancy pulled back from the hug, and both of them looked at each other, at their equally smeared mascara.

They laughed tearfully at each other, and Lisa grabbed a box of tissues from the nearby desk, and they cleaned their faces up.

“Can I just…” Lisa began, looking for the right words. “I really think you should talk to Steve. Tell him the truth.”

Nancy nodded, letting out a slightly shaky breath, “I will. I’ll do that now, while we’re waiting.”

They walked out of the bedroom, sharing small smiles before going their separate ways. While Nancy went outside to talk to Steve, Lisa walked into the living room and sat down on the floor next to Jonathan.

She leaned her back against the base of the couch, and looked at her friend.

So much had changed since their days of sitting together with their lunch trays at the bikeshed in their last year of middle school. It had been a much simpler time when all they’d had to worry about was staying away from the other kids.

“Any sign of him waking up?” Lisa asked and Jonathan sighed and shook his head.

He was sitting with his legs crossed and his chin was resting on his hand as he looked at his little brother.

“I feel like I keep letting him down,” he said quietly.

“You’re not, you’ve always done right by him, Jonathan,” Lisa reached out and squeezed his arm.

He straightened up and lifted his head, and he patted her hand gently.

“Thanks, Lise. And I’m…I’m sorry about before, not telling you where we were going,” he said and she nodded.

“We thought we could get a confession out of them, about the truth of what happened to Barb, and what they were doing in the lab,” he went on. “We found someone who makes a career out of whistleblowing, so he helped us to dial the truth down.”

“To make it more believable to the public,” Lisa said.

Jonathan nodded, “we got it on tape. He’s doing the rest, and we’ve sent the partial recordings to a bunch of newspapers. Hopefully, by tomorrow or the day after, Hawkins Lab will be on every headline.”

Lisa smiled, “you did good. Both of you.”

Jonathan met her gaze, “not everything was…planned.”

“I know.”

Jonathan eyed the back door, “she’s telling Steve?”

“Yeah,” Lisa answered. “I think, deep down, he already knew it was over.”

“I never wanted to be that guy, Lisa, I swear,” Jonathan murmured, looking down at his hands.

“I know,” Lisa said. “I’m sorry for being so pissed. But I talked it through with Nancy, we’re fine now.”

“And you and me?” he asked, meeting her eye again.

“We’re fine, too,” she said. “As long as you don’t disappear with no explanation again.”

He huffed a laugh, “I promise that won’t happen again, if I can help it.”

“Good,” Lisa said. “And…I know you’ve liked Nancy for a while, so I’m glad to see you happy.”

Jonathan gave her a smile, and they both went back to watching Will until the sound of the back door opening and closing caught their attention.

Nancy walked back in looking tearful, but she smiled softly at them, “that was just…it was really hard. But we’re okay, he kind of knew.”

She sat down on the floor with them, wiping a tissue under her eyes, and then she met Lisa’s eye, “he’s a lot stronger than I ever gave him credit for, honestly. But I do think he needs someone with him right now.”

Lisa held Nancy’s gaze as her friend gave her a sad smile, “I think that someone is you, Lisa.” 

Chapter Text

Lisa knew that Nancy was right, that Steve probably did need company. And after everything they’d already gone through together, she was happy to be there for him.

“Okay,” she said to Nancy with a single nod, but then something else occurred to her. “But just so we’re all on the same page now about our, um, respective relationship dramas, you should know that I broke up with Billy.”

Nancy and Jonathan’s eyes went wide, and Nancy grabbed Lisa’s hand, “are you alright?”

“Did he do something?” Jonathan asked, brows pinched in a mix of worry and wariness.

Lisa glanced over her shoulder to the kitchen, to where Max was standing in a heated debate with Dustin, Mike and Lucas.

She turned back to her friends who looked expectantly at her, “it’s a long story, and I’ll tell you properly when all this blows over.”

She gestured vaguely around them when referring to things blowing over, and then sighed, “in summary, he’s a really complicated and angry person, and I just couldn’t be with him anymore.”

Nancy moved from her seated position on the floor to kneel and hug Lisa tightly, “I’m sorry, Lisa. I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”

She sat back on her haunches and Jonathan gave Lisa an apologetic look, “I’m sorry I wasn’t there either, Lise.”

Lisa gave them a sad smile, “well, you’re here now. Besides, there are more important things to worry about right now with the people who are here in this house. Stay with Will, I’m gonna go talk to Steve.”

She passed the kids discussing God-knows-what in the kitchen, and she paused next to Hopper as he leaned against the wall next to the phone, staring at it as though he could intimidate it into ringing.

“Do you think they’ll come?” she asked him quietly.

Hopper took a drag of his cigarette and let out a puff of smoke, then he looked down at her with a weary expression, “here’s hoping.”

She nodded, “well, hope is something we can work with.”

He raised his brows in surprise at her words but didn’t reply, so she gave him a tight smile before walking away and opening the backdoor and the screen behind it.

Steve was sitting on the back steps, his head in his hands.

At the sound of her closing the door behind her he glanced over his shoulder, quickly wiping his eyes on his sleeve, “oh, Lisa. Hey.”

Lisa sat down beside him on the step and he tugged at the laces of his shoes, not meeting her eye.

“Want to talk about it?”

Steve cleared his throat, “there’s nothing to talk about. It’s done. Over.”

“At least you know for sure,” Lisa said gently after a moment of silence. “Let yourself be sad about it, you don’t need to pretend you’re okay.”

Steve ran a hand agitatedly through his hair, “I can’t- I just…I feel guilty about being upset. Mrs Byers just watched her boyfriend get killed by those things.”

Lisa bit her lip, her heart breaking for Joyce, though she had yet to talk to the woman who’d understandably been shut away in her room since they got back to the house.

“Another person’s situation can be worse without making yours any easier,” she said quietly, and Steve raised his brows at her.

“What?”

Steve blinked, “just, um, that’s pretty smart.”

“Don’t sound so surprised,” she said, trying not to smile at the sudden shock on his face.

“No! No, I didn’t mean- oh, you’re kidding,” he huffed a laugh when he realised.

She stayed quiet when she saw a thoughtful look crossing his face, giving him a chance to find the words he wanted to say.

“I saw it coming, you know?” Steve continued quietly, “but I guess I thought it would hurt more when I knew for sure. I think I was in denial, even if I knew deep down.”

Lisa nodded, but Steve spoke again before she could say anything else.

“I just feel pathetic, being sad about it. I haven’t lost anyone, not like Mrs Byers did.”

“But you have just broken up with the person you love-”

“I don’t think we really loved each other, not really,” Steve said a bit harshly. “At least maybe not in that whole ‘in love’ way that I thought we did.”

Lisa didn’t know what to say, and Steve grimaced at her shocked expression.

“Sorry, I know she’s your best friend, and I don’t want you to think that I…didn’t care about her, because I did. I do,” he said quickly, finally sitting up straight and meeting her eye.

She put her hand on his shoulder, “I know you do. And it’s good that you care, even when it’s over.”

He held her gaze for a long moment, “how the hell do you always know the right thing to say, Henderson?”

She shrugged, “even though I’ve never had a proper relationship aside from dating Billy, I do know a few things about relationships. I learned a lot from my parents’s divorce, believe it or not.”

Steve straightened up, looking at her curiously, “oh, yeah?”

Lisa nodded and stared ahead into the dark backyard, “when our parents told us they were breaking up, I was angry. I thought, why us? Why our family? And then I realised how hard they’d tried to make it work, just for me and Dustin. They’re really good friends now, without trying to make a relationship work. It all kinda showed me that sometimes no matter how hard you try, and how much you love someone, sometimes things just don’t work out.”

Steve watched her and bit his lip as if afraid of letting the wrong thing come out, but she gave him a moment to think.

He cleared his throat and spoke carefully, “you…you said you might have loved Billy if you were with him for longer. If you were still with him, or if- if you got back with him, do you think it would’ve been the real deal?”

He tried very hard not to let his own opinion show on his face or in the tone of his voice, because while the thought of Lisa being with Billy again made his blood boil, he needed to just be a good friend and listen to her, just as she’d done for him.

“With Billy, I think there were things that no amount of love could fix, if he didn’t want to be better,” she said, shocked by the way her voice cracked, and she quickly wiped at her eyes. “Shit, I’m sorry, Steve. We’re talking about-”

“Lisa,” he said with such seriousness that she looked at him. “Keep talking.”

She bit her lip and nodded, “I know Billy’s not a good person, I know that. But I also know it’s not totally his fault. I think I tried to ignore it in hopes of helping him just by being with him. But that’s not how real life works.”

Steve wrapped an arm around her shoulder and she automatically leaned into his side as she wiped her eyes.

“I agree that he’s a jackass, but I think he really fucked things up by letting you go,” Steve said with a certainty that surprised her.

She miled sadly, “well, I love Nancy, but I think she majorly fucked things up with you.”

Steve huffed a humourless laugh, “So, you dated a shitty guy, and I wanted to make things work with a girl who didn’t love me anymore. God, I was so blind.”

“We both were,” Lisa said, and she leaned into his side a bit more. “Let’s make a promise, right now, to try to make better choices for ourselves in the future.”

“Agreed.”

Lisa held up a pinky finger, and Steve looked down at her and chuckled, then he tightened his arm around her and held his other hand up to link his little finger with hers.

“To better choices.”

Lisa smiled, “to better choices.”

They made their promise and then unlinked their fingers.

They shared a look of amusement and they both laughed slightly, and then Steve took his arm from around her shoulders but held her gaze.

The door behind them opened abruptly and they both jumped in shock, and Max stuck her head out, “shit, sorry. But you guys are gonna wanna hear this.”

—

Lisa and Steve joined Max, Dustin and Lucas who were gathered around the kitchen table, their crew from earlier reassembled, in addition to Mike this time.

Mike looked up at them as they joined with a suspicious look in his dark eyes, “what are you guys doing here?”

“We’ve literally been here the whole time,” Lisa said firmly, not particularly liking Mike’s tone.

“Yeah, Mike. Did you miss our whole story about the Demodogs, and Lisa and Steve being badasses?” Dustin scowled, and Mike shrugged.

“Anyway,” Dustin continued, rolling his eyes, “they know everything we know.”

“Not everything,” Lisa said, pointing at a creepy drawing in the middle of the table, “what the hell is that supposed to be?”

The drawing was that of a large creature with many legs, towering over buildings like in some sort of creature flick they’d see at the movie theatre.

“Shit, yeah, sorry,” Dustin said with a groan. “This shadow monster has been possessing Will, sending him into these weird trances, and we think it's related to the Demodogs.”

Steve let out a long breath, but Lisa nodded in realisation, “Joyce told me about Will’s, well, what we thought were absence seizures or something. I saw it one time when you guys were at the arcade. I found him outside, just looking up at the sky.”

“Looking up at the sky and…seeing that thing?” Steve asked, nodding to the drawing, and Dustin nodded.

“But anyway,” Mike said hurriedly, “we think the Demodogs are his army.”

“What do you mean?” Steve asked, leaning heavily on the counter behind the table, the weight of this new knowledge sending his mind into a spiral.

“Maybe if we stop him we can stop his army, too,” Mike said and he looked at his friends, “the doctor said the shadow monster was like a virus, it infected him.”

“And so this virus, it’s connecting him to the tunnels?” Max asked.

“Tunnels?” Steve asked.

Dustin groaned, “I forgot how behind you guys are. Lisa, Steve, there’s a network of underground tunnels just outside of Hawkins, we think that’s how the Demodogs have been getting around. They’re connected to the Upside Down.”

“Wait, so this…this virus that’s affecting Will…it infected him when he was stuck there?” Lisa asked, her mind spinning.

“Yes,” Dustin nodded, “it’s all connected, Will, the monsters, the tunnels, the Upside Down. Everything.”

“Woah, woah, slow down,” Steve said, shaking his head as he came over to look at the drawing on the table.

“Okay, so, the shadow monster’s inside everything,” Mike explained, “and if the vines in the tunnels feel something like pain, then so does Will.”

“And so does Dart,” Lucas said in realisation.

Mike nodded, “yeah, like what Mr Clarke taught us.”

“Wait, Mr Clarke knows about the Upside Down?” Lisa asked, bewildered.

“No, he just taught us about the hive mind,” Dustin said nonchalantly.

“Hive mind?” Steve asked.

Dustin turned to him, “a collective consciousness. It’s a super-organism.”

“Like an ant colony, or the human brain, swapping signals and organised for specific purposes,” Lisa said, and Steve looked at her in confusion, as did the others.

She was insulted by the surprise on all of their faces, “what? I’m doing AP biology. And I read.”

Dustin gave her a grin, “I forget you’re smart sometimes.”

She glared at him, “thanks, Dustin. Anyway, so this shadow monster thing is the brain, right? It’s controlling everything, including Will.”

Dustin’s eyes went wide, “like the Mind Flayer.”

“The what?” Lisa, Steve, and Max said at the same time.

Dustin looked at Lisa with such determination that she didn’t even argue at his demanding tone, “get Hopper and the others.”

Lisa nodded, passing the living room and calling out to Nancy and Jonathan, “guys, come to the kitchen. Dustin’s got something.”

They nodded and Lisa looked around for the chief, quietly but quickly making her way down the hallway. The door to Joyce’s bedroom was open, and Hopper, who was sitting on the floor as Joyce slept, looked up, and when Lisa told him to come to the kitchen, he got up and followed her out.

“So, as we were saying, the Mind Flayer-”

“The hell is that?” Hopper interrupted Dustin as he and Lisa rejoined the group, wearing what appeared to be his permanently weary and irritated expression.

Dustin pointed to the book of Dungeons and Dragons lore he had on the table in front of him, “it’s a monster from an unknown dimension. It’s so ancient that it doesn’t even know its true home. It enslaves races of other dimensions by taking over their brains using its highly-developed psionic powers.”

Hopper groaned loudly in frustration, “oh my God. None of this is real! It’s a kid’s game.”

“Um, no, it’s a manual,” Dustin said defensively, “and it’s not for kids- and unless you know something that we don’t, this is the best metaphor-”

“Analogy,” Lucas corrected.

“‘Analogy’,” Dustin repeated incredulously, staring at Lucas. “That’s what you’re worried about!?”

“Dustin, chill out,” Lisa warned him.

Dustin scowled, “fine. An analogy for understanding whatever the hell this is.”

“Okay, so this mind flamer thing-” Nancy began, leaning in next to Jonathan to look at the manual Dustin was pointing to.

“Flayer, Mind Flayer,” Dustin corrected.

Nancy sighed, “what does it want?”

“To conquer us, basically. It believes it's the master race,” Dustin replied.

“Like the Germans,” Steve said.

“The Nazis, Steve, not Germans in general,” Lisa murmured to him.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Nazis, I knew that,” Steve said, looking down at Lisa in exasperation.

Nancy watched the exchange across the table, observing as Lisa smirked up at him and Steve nudged her with his elbow, “alright, shut up.”

Nancy realised that Steve had never had that kind of easy familiarity with her, but as she looked at them, and then thought of how easy it was between her and Jonathan, she realised why.

They hadn’t been with the right people when they were together, her and Steve.

“This thing wants to spread to other dimensions,” Mike said, pulling everyone’s attention back to the conversation.

“We are talking about the destruction of our world as we know it!” Lucas said passionately.

“Awesome, that’s just great,” Lisa said sarcastically.

“That’s great, really great! Jesus,” Steve said simultaneously.

Nancy grimaced at the prospect of their potential demise, “um, okay, so, if this thing is like a brain that’s controlling everything, then if we kill it…”

“Then we kill everything it controls,” Lisa said, nodding her head in agreement.

“Great, so how do you kill this thing? Shoot it with fireballs or something?” Hopper asked with a long-suffering sigh, holding up the lore manual.

Dustin chuckled, “no, no. No fireballs. Uh, you summon an undead army because...um...”

Lisa had to look away as Dustin stammered awkwardly through the rest of his sentence, “because, zombies, you know, they don’t have brains, and the- the Mind Flayer, it…it likes brains.”

Hopper stared down at Dustin who swallowed heavily under the chief’s scrutiny, “um, it’s just a game. It’s a game.”

Hopper slammed the lore book down on the table, “what the hell are we doing here?”

“I thought we were waiting for your military backup?” Dustin asked snarkily as the chief walked away.

“We are!” Hopper snapped.

“But even if they come, how are they gonna stop this!?” Mike demanded. “You can’t just shoot this with guns!”

“You don’t know that!” Hopper said angrily, “we don’t know anything!”

“We know it’s already killed everybody in that lab!” Mike argued.

“And we know the monsters are gonna molt again!” Lucas seconded.

“And we know that it’s only a matter of time before those tunnels reach this town,” Dustin added, crossing his arms.

“They’re right,” a weak voice said from behind them.

They looked over to see Joyce slowly making her way into the kitchen, looking haunted but determined, “we have to kill it. I want to kill it.”

Hopper nodded, “me too, Joyce. Me too. But how do we do that? We don’t exactly know what we’re dealing with here.”

“Will might know?” Lisa said, and everyone turned to look at her. “This thing has been in Will for months now, maybe he knows how it thinks? How it works?”

Mike nodded, “yes! If anyone knows how to destroy this thing, it’s Will. He’s connected to it. He’ll know its weakness.”

“I thought we couldn’t trust him anymore, that he’s a spy for the Mind Flayer now,” Max pointed out.

“Yeah, but he can’t spy if he doesn’t know where he is,” Mike said.

They looked around at each other, understanding of what needed to be done dawning on them.

“Then let’s go,” Hopper said sharply. “We’ve got work to do.”

Chapter Text

They chose the Byers’ shed as a place to interrogate Will, or at least the thing inside him.

Everyone helped out by emptying it out and dumping the stuff on the lawn of the backyard, and finding various materials they could use to make the interior unrecognisable to Will, and as a result, the Mind Flayer.

Lisa found a nail gun and a box of nails, and after handing it to Steve to use to put up some black tarp around the walls of the shed, she headed back into the house to find black garbage bags for when the limited amount of tarp they had inevitably ran out.

Nancy walked into the shed, hesitating when she saw Steve in there alone, but pushing onwards by bringing in the tarp that Lisa had left just outside the door.

“Um, hey,” she said awkwardly.

He glanced at her briefly, and then looked away to focus on the tarp he was nailing into the wall “hey.”

Nancy fidgeted awkwardly before speaking, “I didn’t get a chance to say it before, when we, uh, talked, but what you did, helping the kids…that was…really cool.”

Steve considered her for a moment and nodded, “yeah. Those little shits are real trouble, you know?”

Nancy smiled, “believe me, I know.”

Steve reached up to put a few nails into the wooden walls of the shed, “it wasn’t just me, though. Lisa was there, too. I probably would’ve lost it at them all if she hadn’t been there. Or they would’ve eaten me alive. At least she knows them better than me, which helped.”

Nancy nodded thoughtfully, “she’s a good person, you know. A good friend.”

Steve continued nailing the black material onto the wall, not looking at her as he thought about Lisa, who’d been his rock throughout all of this. “Yeah. She really is.”

Nancy realised that he wasn’t going to say anything else, so she pulled out some tape to stick along the edges of the fabric on the wall, the pair of them working in silence.

With all of them working together, they had the interior of the shed covered in a number of different fabrics, garbage bags, cardboard, foil, and plastic. There was no way anyone who was a stranger to what they’d been doing for the past two hours would have any idea it was the inside of a family shed.

—

Will was brought out to the shed, and woken from his unconscious state once he’d been tied to a chair. While Jonathan, Joyce, and Hopper tried to get answers out of him, the rest of them paced anxiously around the house.

A while later, the three of them came back in, looking frazzled.

“Paper. Now,” Hopper demanded.

Lisa quickly found a drawing pad of Will’s and pulled out a sheet of paper from the back, handing it to Hopper.

He picked up a pen from the table and began writing, but Lisa realised as she watched that it wasn’t words he was writing.

“What happened?” Dustin asked as Jonathan and Joyce came over to the table.

“I think he’s talking, just not with words,” Hopper answered as he wrote.

“Morse code,” Lisa observed and Hopper nodded.

The code he’d written spelled out ‘H.E.R.E’ and they all looked at each other in amazement.

Hopper looked at Joyce with determination, “Will’s still in there. He’s talking to us.”

While Hopper, Jonathan and Joyce went back out to talk to Will, the rest of them sat at the kitchen table in nervous anticipation.

Jonathan had had the clever idea of setting up a system, whereby he and Joyce continued talking to Will, and Hopper used a Walkie-Talkie to relay the Morse code that Will was tapping out on his chair.

Then, back in the house, they listened to the Walkie-Talkie, and while Dustin wrote out what they heard, Lucas translated the dots and lines using a pamphlet with the morse alphabet on it.

Nancy wrote down the letters as Lucas read them aloud, and everyone else waited with bated breath for the message to be revealed.

It took time, presumably with Will trying to tap out the code without giving anything away to the mind flayer which could read his very thoughts.

“We’ve got it!” Dustin said, and they all gathered around the table. “It says, ‘close gate’.”

“Close gate?” Lisa repeated, pacing both out of anxiety and frustration that they had yet another puzzle to solve.

Steve gently took her by the elbow, “hey, relax, you’re making me nervous.”

She sighed and leaned against the counter next to him, “sorry, I just-”

Then the phone rang, and Lisa immediately darted across the kitchen and slammed the phone back onto its cradle to stop the shrill ringing.

“Shit, shit!” Dustin swore.

The phone rang again, and Lisa did the same as before, quickly before it finished its first ring.

“Do you think he heard it?” Nancy asked, her eyes wide.

“It’s just a phone, it could be anywhere, right?” Steve pointed out, trying to reassure everyone.

Hopper rushed back into the house and Lisa gestured to the phone, speaking urgently, “the phone rang, I don’t know if it was back-up or-”

Hopper shook his head, “there’s no time. It knows where we are. Grab a weapon and keep the kids back.”

Lisa nodded and grabbed her axe where she’d propped it against the wall next to her bag, and Steve, overhearing the exchange, picked up his trusty bat, giving it a spin in his hands in anticipation.

They stood next to Nancy and Hopper who each held a gun, and stood in front of the rest of the group with weapons raised in preparation for the Demodogs.

They all startled as the screeching of a Demodog came from outside, getting closer with each guttural noise it made, rustling in the bushes outside the house.

And then, with a wet sounding screech, the noises abruptly stopped, until the only sound to be heard was their own frightened breathing.

Suddenly, the front window shattered and Hopper raised his gun, closest to it and prepared to shoot.

Steve pulled Lisa back against him as something slimy and bloody flew through the broken window, sliding gruesomely across the floor as they all screamed in terror.

The Demodog on the floor appeared to be dead, lying still and unmoving on the floor amid the shattered glass.

Hopper slowly walked over, prodded it with his foot, and it didn’t move.

It was definitely dead, but the question that remained was what killed it.

Steve’s arm was still wrapped around Lisa as they stared at the creature in horror. She was pressed with her back to his chest, gripping his arm in fear with one hand, the axe in the other, while they all stood in a stunned silence.

They all breathed heavily, wondering what could be powerful enough to kill the creatures with otherworldly strength, with nothing but a prey drive for them.

Then the locks of the front door unlocked themselves, and they all jolted in shock, and Lisa and Steve separated to raise their weapons once again as the chain on the door slid across the latch.

The door swung open, and they all lowered their weapons in disbelief as a girl of no older than thirteen walked into the house.

She stared at them, taking each of them in as blood trickled from one side of her nose.

Lisa glanced at the others, seeing Hopper’s expression of both relief and bewilderment, and the kids’ looks of complete amazement.

Mike pushed through them to stare at her with wide, tearful eyes.

She realised then that they’d been saved by the girl who wasn’t in fact dead, or trapped in the Upside Down, like they’d believed for almost a year.

Because there she was, standing in front of them.

Eleven.

—

Mike and Eleven hugged and cried, and then Hopper pulled her into a hug, kissing the top of her head in a way that demonstrated not only familiarity, but love.

Hopper implicitly admitted to hiding the girl for almost a year, and when Mike realised he was hysterical with anger. Hopper dragged the angry boy into another room, and Eleven looked at the rest of them with an unsure smile.

Dustin and Lucas pulled her into a tight hug, and while this was happening Lisa walked over to Joyce.

“Is that her? Eleven?” she asked quietly.

And Joyce sniffed happily and nodded, “yes, that’s her.”

Eleven shouldered past Max without acknowledging her, but came over to hug Joyce who teared up, “hey. Hey, sweetheart.”

Eleven began to cry and Joyce hugged her tighter for a long moment.

Eleven stood back and wiped her eyes, smudging the eyeliner that was there, and then she looked at Lisa who was still standing next to Joyce.

The girl studied her for a moment, “you’re Lisa.”

Lisa blinked in surprise, “you know me?”

Eleven nodded, “Dustin told me about you..”

“He told me about you, too,” Lisa said with a smile, and she slowly raised her hand to give the girl’s shoulder a gentle, friendly squeeze. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“It is…nice to meet you, too,” Eleven said with a tentative smile, and then she turned to Joyce, her smile fading. “Can I see him?”

Lisa sat down tiredly at the kitchen table as Joyce led Eleven to Will’s room, where the boy was lying in an almost-comatose state after they’d brought him in from the shed.

They were gone for mere minutes, when Joyce hurried back in with Eleven close behind her.

Lisa glanced up from the spot on the kitchen table that had amused her for the past couple of minutes, and watched as Joyce stopped across the table from her and held up the message that Will had communicated that said ‘close gate’ to Eleven.

“You opened this gate before, right?” Joyce asked her.

“Yes,” the girl replied, and the others walked in from the living room to listen to the conversation.

“Do you think if we got you back there, that you could close it?”

Just then, Hopper and Mike came out of Joyce’s room, clearly having had a conversation and talked things over as Mike was notably less angry.

Joyce looked up when they came in, and pointed to the written message.

“We were wondering if El would be able to close it if we got her there,” Joyce explained, and Hopper sighed and considered it.

Lisa fidgeted anxiously, and Steve put his hand on her back, standing behind her chair, “hey, you okay?”

She felt herself relaxing under his touch and nodded, speaking in a low voice as she turned to him, “yeah. This shit just seems never ending. But maybe Eleven can fix it for good.”

Steve nodded, but Hopper spoke before he could say anything else.

“It’s not like it was before. It’s grown, a lot,” Hopper told Eleven about the gate. “And, I mean, that’s considering we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs.”

“Demodogs,” Dustin said from beside her, and Lisa swatted him with the back of her hand in an attempt to shut him up.

“I’m sorry, what?” Hopper asked with a weary sigh.

“I said, uh, Demodogs,” Dustin said, completely unable to read the room. “Like, Demogorgon and dogs. You put them together, it sounds pretty badass-”

“How is this important right now?” Hopper snapped.

“It’s not. I’m sorry,” Dustin answered, mortified.

He turned back around to face the table, and Lisa gave him a look that said ‘I told you so’.

He pulled a face and opened his mouth to retort something rude to his sister, but Eleven spoke and cut him off.

“I can do it,” she said.

“You’re not hearing me,” Hopper said, shaking his head.

“I’m hearing you,” Eleven said adamantly. “I can do it.”

“Even if El can, there’s still another problem,” Mike told them. “If the brain dies, the body dies.”

“Is that not the whole point?” Lisa asked him, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair.

Mike nodded, “it is, but if we’re really right about this…I mean, if El closes the gate and kills the mind flayer’s army…”

“Will’s a part of that army,” Lucas said in realisation.

“Closing the gate will kill him,” Mike said with certainty.

Joyce stood up quickly, her chair scraping the floor, “wait a second.”

Without a word, she hurried to Will’s room with the rest of them close behind, exchanging wary looks as they crammed into the bedroom to see what Joyce had just figured out.

“He likes it cold,” Joyce murmured.

“What?” Hopper asked.

“It’s what Will kept saying to me…’he likes it cold’,” Joyce said, and then she crossed the room and shut the window. “We keep giving it what it wants!”

“If this is a virus, and Will’s the host then…” Nancy trailed off.

Lisa nodded in understanding, “then we need to make the host uninhabitable.”

Jonathan looked at them, “what, like sweat it out of him?”

Joyce nodded, “if he likes it cold, then we need to burn it out of him.”

“We have to do it somewhere he doesn’t know this time,” Mike said urgently.”

Dustin agreed, “yeah, somewhere far away.”

Hopper nodded his head, “I know just the place.”

Hopper gave directions to his cabin as he bundled Will up and he and Joyce laid him in the back of Jonathan’s car while Nancy and Jonathan grabbed whatever electrical heaters they could find to put into the trunk of the car.

Lisa watched anxiously from the front yard as they went back and forth, with supplies. Steve walked out and stood next to her, seeing how intently she was watching them.

“You should go with them,” he said to her.

“What?”

“With Nancy and Jonathan,” he said with a shrug, but he wasn’t looking at her.

She scoffed, “I’m not gonna just leave Dustin and-”

“Hey, no one’s leaving anyone,” he told her, and then he smiled slightly, “plus, I’m actually a pretty damn good babysitter, you know.”

“Steve…” she said, looking at him doubtfully.

“It’s okay, Lise,” he said, forcing an encouraging smile. “Go with them. I’ll- We’ll see you when you’re back. Honestly, it’s okay.”

She turned fully to face him and put her hand on his arm, and he looked down at her in surprise. She gave him a meaningful look, “Steve, I’m staying.”

He shrugged slightly, doing his best to hide his relief, “well, yeah, maybe Dustin does need you here.”

“Maybe, but I’m staying for you too, Steve,” she told him, the words coming out before she could stop them.

He looked at her in pleasant surprise, “really?”

“Don’t act too surprised, Harrington,” she laughed it off and took her hand from his arm. “You may be able to keep the kids in check, but someone has to make sure you keep your shit together.”

He chuckled, “I won’t argue with you there.”

They watched from the front porch with the others as Joyce, Jonathan and Nancy drove off with Will to Hopper’s cabin, in their new mission to get the Mind Flayer out of Will’s head.

Hopper and Eleven got into his truck shortly after and drove back in the direction of the lab, hopeful that Eleven would be able to close the gate to the Upside Down.

Mike looked devastated to be saying goodbye to Eleven again so soon, so Lisa reached out to squeeze his shoulder, “she’ll be back, Mike. Don’t worry.”

He nodded and then Steve turned around to open the front door, “come on twerps, get inside.”

And so Lisa and Steve’s mission started: wait, and keep the kids out of trouble.

Chapter Text

Lisa sat at the kitchen table in the Byers’ house, watching in amusement as Steve walked in with the dead Demodog wrapped in an old rug.

He gave her a withering look as he stood there with the dead thing in his arms, “this is not funny.”

“It’s a bit funny,” she said.

He scowled, “Lisa, it’s not funny.”

“You’re carrying a dead monster-alien-creature, bridal style,” Lisa said with a grin, “it’s definitely funny.”

Steve rolled his eyes at her, and then Dustin emptied the last of the fridge’s contents onto the floor, shelves included.

“Alright, it should fit now,” he said nonchalantly to Steve.

Steve looked like he was questioning every single one of his life choices, “is this really necessary?”

Dustin scowled, having been asked this question at least ten times in the past five minutes, “yes, it is, okay? This is a ground-breaking scientific discovery. We can’t just bury it like some common mammal, okay? It’s not a dog.”

“Or Mom’s cat,” Lisa said casually, earning her a glare from her brother.

“Alright, alright, alright,” Steve said with a scowl. “But you’re explaining this to Mrs Byers, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, Lisa already gave me a warning. I don’t need you to mother me too,” Dustin scowled.

With great difficulty, Steve attempted to squeeze the dead creature into the fridge, but its large head was complicating matters.

“A little help here, Hendersons?” he said with a grunt as he tried to shove it in.

“Nope,” they replied simultaneously, and they watched him wedge the creature inside, holding back laughter as he struggled.

Steve grunted as he tried to shove the large head of the creature in, “would someone- Jesus, would someone get the damn door!”

Dustin hurried over, “alright, I got the door.”

Dustin slammed it shut as Steve backed away from the fridge, and he held his hand up towards Lisa, threatening her with the slimy monster residue on it, but her warning glare made him lower his hand and turn away with a snort.

With his clean hand he gave Dustin a somewhat fond pat on the head, and then he went to the sink to wash his hands.

Lisa didn’t miss how Dustin smiled proudly to himself, having been silently praised by the older boy that Lisa knew he secretly admired.

They suddenly heard raised voices in the living room and the three of them quickly walked in to see Lucas and Mike arguing with each other.

“You weren’t in there, Lucas! That lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs!” Mike snapped.

“Demodogs!” Dustin corrected as they stepped into the room.

Mike rolled his eyes but Lucas continued, “the chief will take care of her!”

“Yeah, like she needs protection,” Max said with a scoff.

Steve raised his hands, ready to play the part of the mediator, and looked at Mike, “listen, dude, a coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it. Alright?”

Mike narrowed his eyes, “okay, first of all, this isn’t some stupid sports game. And second, we’re not even in the game. We’re on the bench.”

“Right- uh,” Steve stammered, “so, my point is…”

He didn’t continue to explain whatever his point was supposed to be, and they all stared at him expectantly. He shut his mouth and looked to Lisa for help.

She cleared her throat, hoping her interpretation was correct, “the point is, yes we are on the bench, but there’s nothing we can do about it except to listen to what Hopper told us to do, which is to stay out of the way and out of danger.”

“Unless…” Dustin said thoughtfully.

Lisa turned to him, “unless what?”

“I mean, these Demodogs, they have a hive mind,” he trailed off as they stared at him, “like, when they ran away from the bus, they were called away.”

Lucas nodded, “so, if we get their attention…”

“Maybe we can draw them away from the lab,” Max continued.

“And clear a path to the gate,” Mike finished.

Steve gave Lisa the most incredulous ‘are you hearing this shit?’ expression she’d ever seen, and then he turned back to the kids, “yeah, and then we all die!”

Dustin shrugged, “that’s one point of view.”

“That’s not a point of view, Dustin, that’s a fact,” Lisa said, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation.

“Thank you! Someone else with sense around here,” Steve said loudly.

Mike’s face lit up, “I’ve got it!”

He hurried into the kitchen and they all followed him to the door of the fridge, where one of Mike’s many drawings of the tunnel was taped.

Mike pointed to a part of the tunnel on the bottom, “this is where the chief dug his hole. This is our way into the tunnel. So…”

Mike got up and ran back into the living room, standing in the middle of the room on a collection of drawings on the floor. “Here, right here, This is like a hub!”

“Is he serious?” Steve whispered loudly to Lisa.

“I think he just wants to help,” she said reluctantly. “We all do.”

Steve threw up his hands, “yeah. but this is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“So you got all the tunnels feeding in here,” Mike continued, pointedly ignoring the two older members of their group, “so maybe if we set this on fire-”

“Oh, yeah, that’s a no!” Steve argued.

“Then the mind flayer would call away his army,” Dustin continued as if Steve hadn’t spoken.

“They’d all come to stop us!” Lucas said eagerly.

“Hey!” Steve said furiously.

Lisa couldn’t help but notice how parental he looked with his hands on his hips and a tea towel strewn over one shoulder, looking domestic as though he’d just come in from cooking to give out to his kids.

Here was Steve ‘the Hair’ Harrington, as she’d heard him called by an underclassman she was friendly with from her short-lived band days, formerly known as King Steve by the school, now demonstrating that he had graduated to Mother Hen Steve.

Lisa bit back a smile, unable to believe that she’d managed to conjure that image while everyone else was talking about a potentially fatal mission.

“Then, we circle back to the exit!” Mike said, and Lisa blinked as she realised she’d blanked out from the conversation.

“Guys!” Steve said louder than before.

“By the time they realise we’re gone…” Mike said.

“El would be at the gate!” Max added.

“Hey. Hey! Hey! This is not happening!” Steve said furiously, clapping his hands to get their attention, and Lisa had to hold back a laugh at how uncharacteristically serious he looked.

“But-”

“No, no, no, no, no,” Steve interrupted Mike, “no buts! I promised I’d keep you shitheads safe.”

“And that means all of you!” he glanced quickly at Lisa who had leaned in to consider the drawings that Mike was pointing to. “And that’s exactly what I plan on doing. We’re staying here. On the bench. And we’re waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand?”

“This isn’t a stupid sports game!” Mike argued petulantly.

“I said, does everybody understand that?” Steve said firmly, pointing at Mike. “I need a yes.”

They all nodded solemnly, and Steve let out an exasperated sigh, “thank you!”

He turned his back to the kids and looked down at Lisa who had moved away from the drawings to stand next to him, “was that too harsh? I feel like that was harsh.”

She squeezed his arm reassuringly, “nope, you’re just being a damn good babysitter.”

He relaxed a bit at her words, and the corners of his mouth lifted in a smile to match hers, and just then, the sound of an engine revving loudly outside made them all jump in surprise.

“Who the hell is that?” Lisa demanded, but a sick feeling rose in her stomach.

She hurried to the window to peek through the curtains, and Max was close behind her, both of them already dreading who they’d find outside.

The bright headlights of a very recognisable blue car shone as the car swerved into the front yard, and Lisa and Max gaped at each other in shared horror.

“It’s my brother,” Max said to the others.

“It’s Billy,” Lisa said simultaneously, her eyes wide in panic as she looked at Steve whose face hardened.

Max looked panicked, “he can’t know I’m here. He’ll kill me. He’ll kill us.”

Her panicked look was on Lucas, who Billy had chosen to be the scapegoat for Max’s supposed rebellion against him.

“Max, hold on,” Lisa said, trying to keep her own voice from shaking, putting her hands on the girl’s shoulders. “No one is getting killed. Just stay hidden, and I’ll get him to leave.”

Max nodded numbly, and Lisa squeezed her shoulders once more before turning to Steve, “I’ll go out first, and try and get him to leave.”

Steve took a step towards her and to her surprise, he took her hand and lifted it for her to see, his voice too low for the others to easily hear, “Lise, your hands are literally shaking. Please, let me deal with him. Let me do this for you.”

She looked down at their linked hands, his large warm one holding her noticeably shaking one, and she knew he was right.

Meeting his eye, she nodded, “just be careful. I’ll come out at the first sign of trouble.”

He gave her hand a quick squeeze before letting go, and then turned to the others, “the rest of you, stay down.”

He walked outside, and left the door slightly ajar behind him so they could all listen in, and they heard the car engine shutting off.

Billy stepped out of the car, a lit cigarette hanging from his mouth, “am I dreaming, or is that you, Harrington?”

“Yeah, it’s me. Don’t cream your pants,” Steve said as though he was bored, though Lisa knew he was anything but.

“What are you doing here, amigo?” Billy asked, slamming his car door shut.

“Yeah, I could ask you the same thing, amigo,” Steve answered.

“You here to hook up with Jonathan Byers? Oh no, my bad. That’s your girlfriend’s job,” Billy sneered, and Lisa cringed at how Billy knew just how to get to Steve.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Steve said, remaining calm but tensing his jaw.

“Oh, she actually left you for him? Ouch, man, that’s rough,” Billy said with a bark of laughter.

“Pretty sure you have nothing to laugh about, from what I hear,” Steve snapped.

Billy’s eyes narrowed, “the hell did you just say?”

Lisa silently pleaded with Steve to not say another word, but he couldn’t help himself.

“Nothing, man. Just that you aren’t exactly the posterboy for success in relationships,” Steve said with a shrug.

Billy took a step towards Steve and Lisa had her hand on the doorhandle, ready to intervene at the first sign of a fight starting.

“You talked to Lisa or something?” Billy asked, flicking ash from his cigarette onto the ground, his eyes blazing despite the casual gesture. “What, you trying to get in there for yourself now?”

“What do you want, man?” Steve asked sharply, changing the subject. “You’re the one who came here.”

“I’m looking for my stepsister. A little birdie told me she was here,” Billy casually took a puff of his cigarette.

Steve feigned nonchalance, “huh, that’s weird. I don’t know her.”

“Small? Redhead? Bit of a bitch?”

“Doesn’t ring a bell. Sorry, buddy,” Steve said with a shrug.

Billy’s jaw ticked, “you know, this…this whole situation, Harrington, I dunno. It’s giving me the heebie-jeebies.”

“Oh, yeah? Why’s that?” Steve asked.

Billy clicked his tongue, “my thirteen-year-old stepsister goes missing all day. And then I find her with you in a stranger’s house. And you lie to me about it.”

Steve laughed awkwardly, “man, were you dropped too much as a child, or what? I don’t know what you don’t understand about what I just said. She’s not here.”

“So you won’t mind if I come in and take a look around for myself?” Billy drawled, taking a step closer to the house, with Steve as his only obstacle.

There was no way in hell Lisa was letting him in the house, near Max or the others, so she stepped out and shut the door behind her.

Billy’s expression of dangerous amusement dropped as he saw her, “Lisa?”

“Hi, Billy,” she said, feeling her palms beginning to sweat.

He looked tired, dark circles under his eyes, but his eyes flashed at the sight of her.

“You…” he stared at her, and she could’ve sworn his bright eyes looked pained in the dim light of the porch.

Billy’s gaze travelled from her to Steve, hardening again, “I guess I was dead-on, huh, Harrington?”

Lisa stepped down from the porch and passed Steve, to stand between him and Billy.

“So that’s it, huh? You leave me for this prick?” he tossed the cigarette onto the ground, and then took a step closer to Lisa.

Lisa could sense the tension radiating from Steve, but she knew she needed to focus on Billy in that moment, before things could escalate.

She held her hands up, attempting to placate Billy, “no, it’s not like that. Jonathan is out of town with his Mom and brother. I’m house-sitting.”

Billy glared at her, tears of both hurt and fury in his bright eyes, “so what, you invite Harrington over for a sleepover?”

She shook her head, “Billy, listen to me, it’s not like that at all.”

Billy’s expression didn’t change, “you left me, Lisa. You. Left. Me.”

Lisa couldn’t believe that this inevitable confrontation with Billy was happening tonight, of all nights, when so much was at stake. Before she could say another word, Billy’s eyes turned to glare at Steve with pure hatred.

“You’re a real piece of fucking shit, Harrington,” Billy spoke with venom, his hands balled into fists.

“Well, you’re no ray of sunshine yourself, Hargrove,” Steve spat back, clearly furious, and not helping to de-escalate the situation whatsoever.

Lisa grabbed Billy by the shoulders to pull his attention back to her, “Billy, it’s nothing to do with Steve. Okay? You’re just…you’re so angry, all the time and I couldn’t...”

Her words failed her, and Billy’s anger faded back to pain as he stared at her, and he leaned in to talk in a low voice, “I talked to you about my- about my Mom, Lisa.”

Tears filled Lisa’s eyes but she tightened her grip on his broad shoulders, “I know. And I’m still so glad that you told me, Billy. I really am, But you weren’t being a good person, you-”

“I’m done listening to this,” he shook his head, his face pinched in both pain and fury.

He took her by the wrists and roughly removed her hands from his shoulders, and she stood in a stunned trance for a brief moment until she realised that he was stalking towards Steve.

She watched on in horror as Billy grabbed him by the front of his jacket, “you took her from me.”

Steve fought against Billy’s grip, “no, I didn’t. That’s on you, asshole.”

And then, Billy punched him in the face and Lisa gasped in shock.

Steve grunted and held onto his jaw, but Billy froze as something caught his attention at the house, and Lisa felt her stomach drop as she saw the kids, including Max, in full view through the window.

No doubt, the loud exchange had caused them to worry and try and catch a peek of what was going on, but a split second was all it took.

Billy and Max stared at each other through the window, and Billy glared over his shoulder at Lisa, “this town is full of fucking liars.”

He stormed to the house and kicked the front door open. Steve ran in after him, Lisa hurrying behind.

Billy rounded on Lucas, his shoulders visibly tensing at the sight of the boy, “you are so dead, Sinclair! So dead!”

Steve hurried over and yanked Billy back by the arm, “no. You are.”

As quick as a flash he punched Billy across the face, sending him stumbling across the room.

Lisa hurried past the fight and pushed the kids back, “stay back, whatever happens.”

Billy laughed darkly as he straightened himself up, “looks like you got some fire in you after all, huh? I’ve been waiting to meet this King Steve everybody’s been telling me so much about!”

His smile dropped and he approached Steve slowly. Lisa turned her back to the kids, standing in front of them protectively.

“Get out,” Steve said dangerously.

Billy studied him, then took a swing which Steve ducked and dodged, and he managed to hit Billy again, sending him crashing into the kitchen table.

“YES!” Dustin screamed, “Kick his ass, Steve! Murder the son of a bitch!”

“Get him!” Mike shouted loudly, pulling Lucas back another step. “Get that shithead!”

Lisa watched in amazement as Steve had the upper hand for once. But then, Billy grabbed a plate and smashed it across Steve’s head and they all screamed.

“Steve!” Lisa said and she rushed forward but Dustin and Max grabbed her.

“The hell are you doing!?” Dustin demanded, but Lisa just pushed them all back as Steve stumbled into the kitchen cabinet behind him.

“No one tells me what to do!” Billy spat, grabbing Steve by the front of his jacket and punching him so hard that he fell to the floor.

Lisa rushed forward, intercepting Billy and pushing him back before he could get in another hit, “Billy, stop!”

Billy tore his eyes from Steve and glared at her, and tried to push her away, “get off me, Lisa, I’m warning you.”

She wouldn’t let up, knowing that things would only get worse if he got his hands on Steve again, or Lucas could get seriously hurt when up against Billy’s furious strength.

“Billy, please just go,” she begged him, trying to push him back away from Steve.

“I said get off!” He shoved her hard, and the force sent her falling backwards into the large bookshelf behind her with a cry.

“Don’t touch my sister!” Dustin yelled furiously just as Billy pushed her, and Lucas and Mike had to drag him back as he started towards Billy, screaming obscenities. “I’ll fucking kill you!”

She heard the kids shouting her name as she hit the bookshelf with a painful smash. Shelves buckled with the impact, various books and ornaments fell on top of her, and a ceramic candle came straight down on her head, making her scream out in pain.

The shock and the pain made her lie still on the floor among the broken shelves, her head throbbing. She tasted blood in her mouth, likely after biting her tongue with the force of the impact.

Billy froze, his eyes going wide and the haze of fury dissipating briefly.

“Fuck! Lisa, I didn’t-” he took a step towards her, but Steve managed to get to his feet and grabbed Billy.

“Stay the fuck away from her!”

There was more scuffling and yelling, but it was the sound of the kids screaming in fright that pulled her back from her dazed state.

She felt herself being rolled over onto her side, and she blinked up at Dustin who was crying hysterically.

“Thank God, you’re alive!” he said, pulling her hair from where it stuck to the blood on her face.

She tried to push herself up onto her elbows, her scalp screaming in pain, and Dustin helped her.

She gave him a brief one-armed hug as he took quick breaths to calm his own tearful panic.

“I’m okay, bud, I’m alright,” she whispered as he helped to pull her upright, patting the back of his head.

She could hear more yelling, and Dustin gasped, “shit!”

“Steve-?” she mumbled, vision swimming as she got upright.

“Billy won’t stop!” Dustin shouted fearfully.

Lisa pushed herself up onto her feet with Dustin’s help, blinking against the pain in her head, just as Billy knocked Steve to the floor again.

To everyone’s horror, Billy climbed on top of him and began punching him hard and repeatedly.

Again. And Again. And Again.

A horrible truth set in. Billy was going to kill Steve right in front of them.

Chapter Text

Blood spattered across Billy’s fists as he punched Steve, who was trying to gasp for air between the impacts of Billy’s repeated hits.

“Stop, you’re gonna kill him!” Dustin cried, but he still supported his sister as she tried to get up. still supporting his sister.

Lisa felt like her body was made of lead with double vision making her unsteady, but with Dustin’s help she managed to get to her feet.

She felt sick when she saw Steve on the ground, blood covering his face, as Billy hit him repeatedly, with no sign of stopping.

She propelled herself forward, out of Dustin’s grip, adrenaline fueling her as looked around for something, anything, that would help her to stop this.

“Lisa!” Max screamed, running in from the kitchen and holding up a syringe.

“Throw it!” Lisa shouted back, and though her vision was fuzzy at the edges, she managed to catch it, and then she uncapped the needle.

She stalked across the room, feeling as though she was watching the scene unfold from outside of her body, seeing nothing but Billy beating an already-unconscious Steve until his skin split.

She grabbed Billy by the hair on the back of his head and yanked his head back, exposing his throat, and without hesitation she stuck the needle into the side of his neck.

He grunted, stumbling to his feet with his hand on his neck, staring at Lisa in shock, “what did you…do to me?”

Then the effects of whatever was in the syringe took hold and he collapsed to the floor, and Lisa dropped the syringe in realisation of what she’d just done.

She backed away slightly, but it was Max’s turn to take on Billy.

The girl grabbed Steve’s nailed baseball bat and swung it down towards the floor, the nails wedging it in the floorboards between Billy’s legs.

“From here on out, you leave me and my friends alone. Do you understand?”

Billy didn’t answer, so Max pulled the bat out of the floor and threatened him again, “say you understand! Say it!”

“I understand,” Billy mumbled weakly.

Once it was clear that Billy wouldn’t be throwing fists at anyone again in his condition, Lisa hurried forward and dropped to her knees beside Steve.

Her hands immediately went to his face which was covered in blood, and bruises were already blooming under the broken skin.

“Steve? Steve, can you hear me?” her voice was shaking, and she was doing her best not to cry as she took in the extent of his injuries, which were so much worse up close.

He didn’t respond so she slid one trembling hand from his jaw down to his throat to feel for a pulse, and she let out a sob of relief when she found it.

Lisa leaned over him and gently cupped his ruined and bloody face, “Steve, I need you to wake up, okay?”

“Lisa,” he whispered faintly.

“Yes, it’s me, it’s Lisa,” she told him, tears filling her eyes as she leaned over him and hugged him to her chest in relief. “I’m here.”

“That’s…that’s good,” he murmured, and his eyes fluttered closed again, his left eye was visibly beginning to swell.

“Steve, I need you to stay with me, you hear? We’re going to fix you up, okay?” Lisa loosened her hold on him to look down at him, moving back to hold his head on her lap.

He nodded slightly, and the kids ran over, white with fear.

“Is he alive?” Dustin gasped.

“Yes, he’s alive,” Lisa said shakily. “He’s alive.”

“What do you need us to do?” Lucas asked urgently.

“I need a first aid kit, I know Joyce has one. Check under the sink. I need warm towels, a basin of warm water, and an ice pack,” she instructed them, and they instantly nodded and hurried away.

“Steve, stay awake, c’mon,” she said, leaning back in to hold his face again, trying to assess if he needed a hospital.

He opened his eyes then, blinking slowly, he spoke so quietly that she barely heard him, “are the kids…”

“Everyone is fine, Steve,” she told him as Lucas handed her a few towels and Max put down a basin of warm water next to her knees.

She dabbed the towel into the water and then tried to clean the worst of Steve’s injuries.

Dustin came over with an icepack from the freezer and Lisa wrapped it in a flannel cloth and took it from him, holding it gently to Steve’s bruised cheekbone underneath the broken skin.

He hissed in pain and tears spilled from the corners of his eyes, and she stroked his dark hair, and leaned in close to whisper reassuringly to him, “I’m sorry, you’re okay. You’re okay.”

He squinted at her, his non-swollen eye widening slightly, “Lisa, you’re bleeding-”

“Ssh, ssh, I’m okay,” she told him.

Mike ran in from the kitchen and knelt down with the first aid kit, “what do you need from this?”

“I need steri-strips, those are the really thin tiny plasters,” she said, and Mike opened up the small box and handed them to her.

She carefully applied some of them to Steve’s jaw and cheekbone, holding the edges of his deeper cuts from the assault together.

“I can sit up,” Steve mumbled, and Lisa nodded.

She and Dustin carefully helped him up and into a seated position, and moved him back so he could lean back against the couch behind him.

“Slowly, there you go,” she whispered to him encouragingly, and then she saw his face turning white. “Someone get me another basin, he might need to throw up.”

Max pushed one into her free hand and had the sense to make the boys move back to give them space, and sure enough, Steve made quick use of the basin.

Lisa rubbed his back as she held up the basin, “you’re okay, it’s just because you’ve moved and got nauseous. You’ll be fine.”

Once it was clear that he was done, Dustin took the basin with little-complaint and Lisa gave Steve’s face another wipe and added to the pile of used flannels.

His head fell back slightly and she cupped his jaw to hold him steady, “do you know where you are?”

He groaned, colour starting to return to his cut-up cheeks, but his non-swollen eye drooped closed for a moment, “yeah, shit. Where’d Billy go, I was kicking his ass-”

“No, you weren’t,” Dustin said, and Lisa elbowed him.

“Yeah, you had him on the ropes for the most part,” Lisa reassured him, putting her hand on his knee and giving him a comforting squeeze. Steve nodded and then closed his eyes and his head lolled back against the couch.

“Steve,” Lisa whispered worriedly, and she carefully lifted his head while Dustin wedged a cushion behind it to keep him somewhat stable.

He kept slipping out of consciousness, and that made Lisa uneasy, “goddamnit, Steve..”

She turned to Dustin, “I think we need to bring him to the hospital.”

“No, hospital,” Steve murmured.

Mike hurried in from the kitchen, “the others have been gone for almost thirty-minutes. They’re probably inside the lab now. If we’re going to lure the Demodogs away, we need to make a move.”

“Shit,” Lisa said under her breath. She was the only one in a position of responsibility now, and she had a decision to make.

She pushed herself to her feet, “okay, I need you all to listen carefully-”

She was wobbly on her feet, and she swayed slightly, but Max grabbed her, “Lisa, are you-? Shit there’s blood dripping down your face.”

Lisa reached a hand up to the top of her head, just beyond her hairline and directly where the ceramic candle had impacted, and her fingers came back bloody.

“Shit,” she mumbled, and Dustin paled when he got a proper look at her, and silently held her out some gauze pads from the first aid kit.

She took them from him and held them to her head with a wince, “it’s fine, for now. But listen to me. All of you.”

The four kids turned to her and she took a deep breath, “alright. We’re going to where Hopper dug the hole into the tunnels, but we can’t leave Steve behind so we’re bringing him.”

“What? How will we all fit?” Lucas asked, doing a silent headcount of them all.

Lisa groaned, “alright, I’m obviously driving, so two of you sit in the back with him and keep him upright and conscious if you can. Two of you will need to squeeze into the passenger seat, and someone will need to give me directions.”

They nodded and she gave Steve another concerned look, “pack whatever you think we might need. Torches, goggles, gloves, rope. Anything you can find. If we’re going to light a fire and burn the shit out of their nest, then we’ll need gasoline.”

The four of them hurried off in search of the items she listed with surprising obedience, and she quickly grabbed a small mirror from her own backpack and sat on the floor next to Steve to clean up the cut on her head as best as she could.

With a hiss, she cleaned the wound with alcohol swabs and figured the steri-strips were useless as they’d just stick to her hair. So after cleaning it and stopping the bleeding as best as she could, she decided it was a problem for later, after they left the tunnels.

She pulled her hair back over the cut in an effort to cover it, using a hair tie to hold it up in a loose ponytail on the back of her head and trying to ignore the stickiness of the drying blood on the hair closest to her cut.

“Having a cut up head was not supposed to be on the menu tonight,” she mumbled to herself.

She turned her gaze to Steve again, and took his face in her hands as she surveyed her work with the damage to his face, and her heart lurched at the state Billy had left him in.

Blinking back tears, she rested his head back on the cushion behind him and went to look for some more things that she thought might be necessary for their mission into the tunnels.

Within ten minutes, they were ready to go, with the first challenge being getting Steve into the back of the car.

She helped them in their mammoth task of carrying him into Joyce’s car, the only vehicles apart from Billy’s left behind, and then Dustin and Lucas waved her off when she tried to insist on helping to sit him upright and strap him in, and Mike followed after them with arms full of their bags of supplies to stow in the trunk.

Lisa walked back into the house to see Max staring down at Billy, her arms folded but her eyes filled with tears.

“Max?” she asked, taking a step towards the girl.

“I don’t know what was in the syringe I gave to you,” she said, guilt etching her features. “What if something happens?”

Lisa bit her lip, the implications of the fact sinking into her own mind, “you’re right. I have an idea-”

Just then, Dustin stuck his head in the front door, “alright, we’ve got the BFG into the back seat.”

Lisa snorted, “I am so telling him you called him that.”

“Don’t you dare,” Dustin responded.

Lisa waved him off, “we’ve one more thing we need to do before we go.”

After hauling another young adult man into a car, the boys climbed into Joyce’s car to await Lisa, and Max gave Billy one last wary look before following after them.

They’d put him into the driver’s seat, but as Lisa leaned in to take the car keys out of his pocket, he moved and she jumped in surprise.

He blinked at her, clearly fighting against unconsciousness.

“I’m taking your keys so you don’t drive off in this state,” she told him, tossing them a moderate distance away into the grass. “There’s an ambulance on the way, following a report of a drunk pulling off the road into the Byers’ front yard.”

He blinked at her again, and just as she leaned back out of the car to shut the door, he murmured in a barely audible voice, “‘m sorry, Lisa.”

She stared at him, his heavy lids dropping as he fought against the drug, but she didn’t hide the harshness of her tone, “prove you’re sorry by being better.”

“Why’re you helping me,” he mumbled, trying to focus his gaze on her.

She didn’t expect him to remember any of this exchange when he woke up, so she didn’t bother with lying.

“Because I think that deep down, there’s a lonely and scared little boy in you who deserves to be saved,” she said.

With that, she slammed his door shut, and strode across to climb into Joyce’s car, wasting no more time as she started the car and followed Lucas’ directions, with Max squished uncomfortably next to him on the passenger seat.

“Lisa?” Steve murmured somewhat deliriously after a few minutes of driving, and Dustin pressed the ice pack more firmly to his head as he moved a bit.

“I’m right here, Steve,” she told him from the front seat. “Just relax,”

Steve groaned in pain and lifted a hand to his face until Dustin stopped him, “no, don’t touch it!”

Steve turned to Dustin in a daze, and Dustin grinned at him, “hey, buddy! It’s okay. You put up a good fight. He kicked your ass, but you put up a good fight. Lisa and Max took him out, but you get an A-plus for effort, buddy, okay?”

“Okay, you’re gonna keep straight for half a mile, then make a left on Mount Sinai,” Lucas told Lisa.

“You better tell me where that is because I don’t know this road,” she told him, and Steve groaned in pain and Dustin tried to soothe him.

“What the- wait, who’s driving?” Steve mumbled.

“I am, obviously,” Lisa said, “you think I’d let a thirteen year old drive?”

“Yeah, and we couldn’t leave you at home alone in case you died,” Dustin said. “But the nest isn’t going to spontaneously combust so we needed to help.”

“And by help, he means we’ve got to light the place up like a Christmas tree,” Lisa added, while also listening to Lucas’ directions and trying not to swerve over the road markings with her slightly-hazy vision.

“What? You’re driving us all to the tunnels? Stop the car!”

“No!” Lisa said, while Dustin continued trying to soothe Steve like he was a small child.

“Stop! Stop the car! Pull over!” Steve half shrieked, his energy and awareness hitting him in full force. “STOP THE CAR!”

“She can’t, we’ve to help El and Hopper!” Mike argued.

“And she’s a really good driver!” Dustin reassured him. “Even though she’s probably concussed!”

“Concussed-?” Steve repeated, his voice shrill with panic.

Dustin patted his head, “yeah, Billy threw her into a-”

“Everybody shut up! I’m trying to focus on the damn road!” Lisa shouted at them all, wincing as her head throbbed.

“Oh, wait, that’s Mount Sinai! Lisa, make a left! Make a left!” Lucas said.

With a frustrated groan at Lucas’ lack of attention, Lisa swerved the car sharply to make the turn she’d just about missed.

They all screamed as the car spun and the tires screeched, but a high-pitched scream coming from Lucas was almost scarier than the spinning car.

Lisa got back in control of the car, managing to keep everyone alive and avoid any future injuries, but the exertion made her wince at the already-existing cut on her head.

Once they were driving straight again, albeit still speeding extremely fast, Max leaned forward and looked at her, “Lisa, you’re bleeding again.”

She used her sleeve to wipe away the small trickle of blood that had leaked down her scalp and onto her forehead.

“What do you mean she’s bleeding again!?” Steve demanded.

Max ignored him and opened the glove compartment, rooting around until she found a pack of Kleenex and handing one to Lisa which she quickly used to wipe away the blood as she drove down the straight road.

The hopefully unserious head wound felt like the single most inconvenient thing she had to deal with at that moment when a literal gate to hell was open just across town.

“Lisa! Why are you concussed and bleeding!?” Steve asked furiously, swatting Dustin and Mike away from him.

“Battlescars, Steve,” Lisa said, watching the road as the night grew even darker around them.

Steve said a number of very colourful words under his breath and then Lisa skidded to a sharp stop in the middle of the field, right next to the hole in the ground.

“Woah, HELLO!?” Steve yelled in fright as the car jolted with the abruptness of Lisa’s braking.

They sat in silence for a moment, and Lisa closed her eyes and leaned back against the headrest, all of them panting in slight shock.

“Woah,” Dustin sighed in relief at the car having stopped.

“Incredible,” Mike said.

“I really want to never do that again,” Lisa said, slightly breathless as the adrenaline ebbed away.

And then with a groan she opened the door and climbed out, and the rest followed suit and went to the trunk of the car where they’d stowed whatever assortments of eye covers and face covers they could find, along with her and Steve’s trusty weapons and several tins of gasoline.

Lisa wrapped a scarf around her nose and mouth, and when she tied it to the right tightness, she pulled it down to her neck and then pulled a pair of welding goggles onto her eyes, careful to avoid brushing them against her sore head. Once the goggles were also the right tightness, she pulled them down around her neck along with the scarf.

“Guys-” Steve groaned as he straightened up and propped himself upright against the side of the car. He saw them all suiting up with various eye and face covers, “oh, no. Guys.”

Mike walked over to the hole with a large can of gasoline and Steve did a double take, “hey, where do you think you’re going!?”

Mike ignored him and Steve grew irritated, “what are you, deaf? Hello?”

Lisa pulled her axe out of the trunk of the car, “Steve, calm down.”

He wobbled a bit as he stared down at her incredulously, “calm down? Calm down? Are you serious right now, Lisa? I thought you were on my side about this.”

Lisa sighed, “I was, but they’re right. This is the best way to give Eleven a real shot at fixing all this.”

Steve shook his head, “by using ourselves as bait in an underground tunnel? Nope, no way. We are not going down there, I made myself clear.”

Lisa tilted her head to study him, “yeah, you did make yourself clear. But then you got beaten to a fucking pulp by my ex boyfriend and we had to make a contingency plan.”

Steve held up his hands, “Lisa, listen to me, this is a bad idea.”

He turned to the others and leaned across Lisa to snatch a bag from Dustin’s hands, “this ends right now!”

“Steve, you’re upset, I get it,” Dustin said gently, trying to diffuse the situation, “but the bottom line is, a Party member requires assistance, and it is our duty to provide that assistance.”

“Alright, well, as the designated responsible adult here who isn’t a member of this so-called ‘party’ of yours-”

“You are a member of the party,” Dustin said to Steve as though it was the most obvious thing ever. “And so is Lisa. Obviously.”

“Wait, seriously?” Lisa asked in surprise as she shouldered her bag of supplies.

“Yeah, duh, now hurry up,” Dustin walked towards the others with an armful of rope.

“This is not happening right now,” Steve muttered and he leaned back against the car.

“Just get back in the car and stay there, Steve,” Lisa said, turning around to walk away.

“Wait- Lisa,” he took her hand and pulled her back a step, “c’mere.”

“What?”

His non-injured eye went wide as took in the dried blood on the side of her brow and temple, and seemingly without meaning to, he reached up and cupped her face. His gaze travelled up and he lightly brushed back her curly bangs with his thumb, frowning when he saw the stubborn cut on her scalp along with the less-dry blood on her hairline.

“Jesus Christ, I’m gonna kill that son of a bitch,” he said furiously.

“Technically, it was gravity that did it,” she said, cheeks warming slightly, and she gently took his wrists and stepped away.

He gave her an exasperated look, “are you sure you don’t need a hospital? Because that cut on your head looks bad-”

“You said no hospital-”

“For me, not you!”

“Steve, first of all, you got it way worse. Second of all, we can sit in the hospital and complain later, alright?” She reasoned with him. “For now, I need you to cooperate, and if that involves you staying behind then so be it.”

Steve sighed in frustration as she began to turn away, “wait, Lise, I’m supposed to keep them safe, to keep all of you safe.”

She took a step towards him and put her hand on his shoulder, looking him directly in his bruised face, “well then, help me keep them safe.”

She walked around to the open trunk of the car and pulled out his bat, “here, what do you say?”

“Honestly? I say ‘fuck this’. But yeah, okay, gimme that,” he took the bat from her.

“Suit up, buttercup,” she said brightly, handing him goggles and a bandana for him to put on, as well as an old pair of gardening gloves.

He gave her a puzzled look, and then she gestured to her own makeshift protective gear and he nodded in understanding, pulling them on.

She pulled on her own pair of gloves, and then she put her goggles back on, picked up her axe from where she’d propped it against the side of the car, and made her way to the hole in the ground where the kids stood having lowered the numerous cans of gasoline down with ropes.

“Everyone ready?” she asked the kids, and they all nodded in determination.

And then, covering up their mouths and noses with their assortment of scarves and masks, they climbed down into the tunnels one by one.

Chapter Text

Steve pushed past the rest of them to climb down into the tunnel first, and Lisa leaned over the edge to look down at him, “someone’s eager.”

He scowled at her and waved for the next person to climb down, and Lisa gestured for Mike to go first, followed by Dustin and Lucas.

Lisa gave their surroundings a sweep with her torch to ensure they weren’t being followed, but as Max was readying herself to jump down to where Steve and Lucas waited to catch her, Lisa abruptly backed away from the edge, her vision swimming.

“Lisa? You okay?” Max asked, looking over her shoulder at her.

Lisa nodded and waved at her to go on, “I’ll be there in a minute.”

Max frowned but turned back around and jumped down into the tunnel.

Just as Max disappeared from view, overwhelming nausea had Lisa bolting a few feet away to drop to her knees and throw up in the soil.

She groaned, still doubled over but feeling somewhat better after finally getting it out of her system.

“Lisa? You still there?” Steve called, his voice muted by being literally under the ground.

“Yeah, just a sec!” she called back, pulling a bottle of water from her bag and pouring some into her mouth to rinse it out, grimacing as she spat into the soil. She kicked the loose dirt over the evidence of her concussion-induced puke break, and shuffled back over to the hole.

She’d had a feeling that she’d regret not taking it easy after getting such a hard knock to the head.

She hurried back to the tunnel and sat down on the edge, staring down at Steve, “you sure you’ll catch me? I’m not as light as the kids, you know.”

He rolled his eyes, “Lisa, I don’t care.”

She narrowed her eyes, “your bruised ribs will.”

He gave her a mirthful smile as he reached up and took hold of her ankle, tugging on the laces of her boot, “try me.”

She shrugged, “if you say so.”

She edged herself down and Steve took a hold of her legs, and then she let herself slide down, Steve taking her weight easily with only a slight wince of pain.

He lowered her until he was holding her up by the back of her thighs, and raised his eyebrows, “told you.”

“Fine, you were right,” she said, and then realised with a start that they were at eye-level for once, and she cleared her throat, “you can put me down now, Steve.”

“Shit- yep,” he quickly set her down on her feet, patting her shoulder awkwardly. “There you go.”

“Took you long enough!” Dustin called them as Lisa pulled her scarf up over her nose and mouth.

The beam of her torchlight showed the strange dust-like particles floating through the air around them, and she looked around.

“Holy shit,” she said, putting her hand over the scarf to make sure it was tight enough.

“Tell me about it,” Steve agreed.

Mike hurried over to them, brandishing the hand-drawn map in his hands, “I just went down the tunnel, and I’m pretty sure it’s this way!”

“I told you shitheads not to go anywhere-” Steve reprimanded, readjusting the bandana over his nose and mouth.

Lisa just raised her brows at Mike, “you’re ‘pretty sure’, or you’re certain?”

“I’m a hundred percent sure. Just follow me and you’ll know!” Mike said defensively before turning on his heel and walking down the tunnel.

“Woah, woah, woah. Hey, I don’t think so,” Steve yelled from the back of the group. “Any of you little shits die down here, I’m getting the blame.”

“Me too,” Lisa reminded him.

“Nope, I’m the oldest, I’m in charge,” Steve said firmly.

She rolled her eyes at him, muttering under her breath, “Steve Harrington likes to be in charge, who knew?”

Steve sputtered at her words, feeling warmth rising in his cheeks as he walked away and came to a stop in front of Dustin who stared up at him in defiance.

Steve just glared back at him, “you got it, dipshit?”

Without waiting for an answer, Steve pushed past him to the front of the group, “from here on out, I’m leading the way. Come on, let’s go.”

Lisa scowled under the scarf and goggles but followed him, and Steve turned over his shoulder to shout at them, “come on! A little hustle!”

“So damn bossy,” Lisa snarked loudly.

“Ugh, don’t you start, Lisa,” Steve retorted as he walked ahead.

They walked in silence, each of them carrying at least one can of gasoline, careful not to trip over the vines that twisted across the ground beneath their feet. Parts of the ceiling of the tunnel seemed to be pulsating, like veins rather than just alien vegetation.

“What is this place?” Max asked in wonder, looking up at the slightly gaping cavern in the ceiling in one of the larger tunnel spaces.

“Guys, come on. Keep moving,” Steve said sharply.

They continued walking, but the sound of Dustin screaming filled their ears and Lisa felt her blood run cold as she realised he was no longer beside her. She hurried back in the direction they’d just come from and saw him on the ground down the tunnel, having lagged behind.

“Shit! Shit!” He shrieked hysterically, rolling around, “help! Help!”

“Dustin!” Lisa screamed in terror as she ran towards him, thinking that she was about to watch her brother die in this horrible place. She reached him and crouched down beside him and put her hands on his shoulders as he doubled over, coughing uncontrollably.

“Dustin, what is it? Are you hurt?” Lisa asked urgently as he knelt on the ground coughing and spluttering.

The others were close behind, shouting for Dustin as well as they ran towards them.

“What happened? What happened?” Steve shouted, hurrying over.

Dustin continued coughing and shrieking, “it’s in my mouth! Some got in my mouth! Shit!”

“What?” Lisa demanded, “what did!?”

Dustin continued coughing like he was trying to expel his lungs from his body and Steve crouched down next to Lisa, “oh, shit!”

She turned to look at Steve with wide eyes of terror, “what if it’s poison!? What if he’s-”

Dustin abruptly stopped his hysterics and let out one final cough, and spit on the ground in front of him, and then he straightened up and looked from his sister to the others, then back to Lisa.

“I’m okay,” he said calmly.

Lisa glared furiously at her younger brother, “scare me like that again, asshole, and you won’t be.”

“Very funny, man,” Steve scowled, and then he turned around to the others and continued leading them down the network of tunnels.

Lisa dragged Dustin up to his feet by the collar of his sweater and pushed him in front of her, “you’re going in front of me where I can keep an eye on you, idiot.”

“Yup, understandable,” Dustin mumbled.

They walked on for what felt like ages, and then Steve stopped and looked down at the map in his hands, “alright, Wheeler. I think we found your hub.”

Looking around, they found themselves in what appeared to be the centre point where all the tunnels connected, just as Will’s drawings had shown.

Mike nodded and held up a can of gasoline, “alright, let’s drench it.”

They emptied the cans of gasoline all over the ground, soaking the floor with the overpowering smelling fuel.

Satisfied with their handiwork, they stepped back and left a safe distance between them and the space they were about to set on fire.

“Alright, you guys ready?” Steve asked, holding up his lighter.

“Ready,” the kids all echoed in confirmation.

Lisa was crouched down next to Steve and she looked at him and nodded in encouragement, “alright, light it up.”

Steve let out a sigh of resignation, “I’m in such deep shit.”

And with that, he flicked on his lighter and tossed it to the ground.

The vines and walls lit up immediately, flailing like limbs as the flames grew higher and higher.

Steve grabbed Lisa by the hand and shoved the kids ahead of them, “let’s go, let’s go!”

“Oh my God, oh my God!” Dustin shrieked as they ran.

Steve was still holding Lisa’s hand and when he realised, he dropped it, covering it up by holding out the map in front of him as he ran, “this way!”

They heard a yelp just behind them, and suddenly Mike was on the ground, vines twisting up his legs as he yelled for help.

“I got him!” Lisa yelled at Steve. “Go with the others!”

Lisa pulled her axe from where it was strapped to her backpack and ran to him, swinging the blade down onto the vines until they released Mike.

She pulled the boy to his feet and patted him on the back of the head, “hey, you’re okay. Let’s go.”

He nodded quickly and she pushed him ahead of her, really not planning on having to tell Nancy that her brother was dead after they went gallivanting into alien tunnels against the chief’s orders.

“Guys, we gotta go!” Steve shouted to them from up ahead, but just then a loud growl stopped them in their tracks.

They spun around to see a Demodog staring right at them, growling menacingly and blocking their path.

Steve and Lisa both raised their respective weapons, prepared to strike, but neither of them were expecting Dustin to step forward.

“Dart,” he said, taking another step forward.

“Dustin, get back here!” Lisa hissed and the others all voiced similar sentiments until Dustin shushed them.

“Trust me! Please,” he pleaded and then he slowly crouched down and removed his scarf and goggles, “hey, it’s me. It’s me. It’s just your friend, it’s Dustin. It’s Dustin, alright?”

Dart took a step closer to Dustin, and Lisa tensed up, her axe poised and ready to swing.

“Do you remember me?” Dustin asked the creature, “will you let us pass?”

Just then, Dart opened his face and roared at Dustin, who just held up his hands in surrender, “okay, okay, I’m sorry. I’m sorry about the storm cellar. That was a pretty douchey thing to do.”

Lisa felt like she was in a living nightmare as she watched Dustin take his backpack off his shoulder, and pull out a packet of chocolate nougat for the deadly monster.

He slowly opened it up and put it on the ground in front of Dart, and when the creature bent down to eat it, Dustin urgently gestured for them all to walk ahead, which they did.

The creature looked at them, and by some miracle, he decided the nougat was tastier than they would be, and let them go.

They ran through the tunnels, following Steve, and then a quake made them all stumble, and the distant sound of screeching monsters reverberated down the winding pathways.

“What was that?!” Max demanded.

“They’re coming,” Lisa said in sudden realisation.

“Run! Run!” Mike yelled, and so they did.

Between frightened yells and anxious panting, they found the rope they’d left hanging down from the hole and Lisa and Steve practically threw the kids forward towards the entrance.

They quickly strapped their weapons onto their packs and pushed Max up first, and she pulled herself the rest of the way up while they hoisted Lucas, then Mike, then Dustin up.

Steve turned to Lisa with the intention of hoisting her up just before the creatures reached them, but there would be no time for both of them to get out.

The kids were screaming at them to get out of the tunnel, and Steve pushed Lisa back towards the rope.

“Lisa, come on! You can still get out of here-”

The dog-like creatures ran through the network of tunnels, and they could see their shadows and hear their claws on the ground just around the bend, mere feet away.

She gripped his forearms tightly, jerking him to a stop, “no, not without you!”

He stared at her in wide-eyed terror, and she held his gaze as the weight of her decision and what it meant settled between them.

Steve pulled Lisa to him just as she reached for him and pressed her face into his chest, just as the first of the creatures came into view, heading straight towards them.

He pressed his face into her hair as he held her tightly in his arms, and her hands were gripping in the front of his jacket, and they braced for the end.

But it never came.

The Demodogs didn’t attack, they ran straight past them without hesitation, and Lisa shrieked in fright as they jostled them and knocked into them like a stampede, and if it weren’t for Steve’s firm grip on her, she would’ve tumbled to the ground and been trampled by them.

They stared at each other in complete shock, and once the last of them ran out of sight, Steve suddenly and wordlessly bent down to grab Lisa by the back of her thighs to lift her up towards the surface.

The kids quickly grabbed onto her and pulled her out, and they all helped Steve to climb out.

The two of them collapsed in a heap at the edge of the tunnel, panting with a mixture of fear and relief.

Then their surroundings brightened, and they rolled over to look for the source of the light, and they all had to shield their eyes against the car's blinding and abnormally bright headlights.

They could hear the thrum of energy accompanying the lights, and after a moment, they dimmed again.

“Eleven,” Mike said in realisation.

“Did she do it?” Lisa asked breathlessly, feeling beyond dizzy and lightheaded.

Mike nodded, “she did it. She closed the gate.”

Her head throbbed painfully and she pulled the goggles from her eyes as fresh blood trickled over one of the lenses.

“Thank God,” Dustin said in relief.

“What do we do now?” Max asked.

They all sounded so far away, and the edges of Lisa’s vision went dark. She squeezed her eyes shut, blindly reaching out for Steve and feeling his hand closing around hers and her arm.

“Lise, you okay?” she heard him ask.

She squinted at him, seeing his concerned face, so bruised and bloodied.

She tried to say his name, but then everything went dark.

Dustin screamed and the others gasped, but Steve caught her as she fell, grunting under her dead weight.

“Shit!” he exclaimed, and he used one hand to hold her back to him and the other one to scoop her up under her knees. “We’ve gotta go to the hospital, now.”

The kids gathered everything up and threw them into the trunk of the car, as Steve sat Lisa into the front passenger seat.

“Are you even able to drive?” Mike asked, pointing at Steve’s face.

“Yes,” Steve answered, though he realistically could only see out of one eye. “The four of you need to squeeze into the back, I don’t care how you do it.”

Within five minutes, they were on the road.

“We need a cover story!” Lucas said.

“Yeah, otherwise they’re gonna think you beat the shit out of each other,” Max said.

Dustin was sitting forward in his seat, so there was room for four of them to sit across the three back seats, and also so he could keep a hand on Lisa’s shoulder from the seat in front.

He was uncharacteristically quiet, and Steve glanced at him from the peripheral vision of his good eye, but decided to focus on the road now, and talk later.

Steve sped down the deserted road, and almost cried in relief as Lisa stirred, and mumbled something he couldn’t quite catch.

He swerved into the hospital’s emergency loading area, “I’ll get her, you guys get someone’s attention, now!”

Lucas, Max and Mike ran in ahead, waving their arms to catch as much attention as possible.

Steve picked Lisa up in his arms, and Dustin held the door of the car open, hurrying after Steve without a word, but with tears on his face.

“Help! We need help!” Max shouted, and nurses ran over. “Someone beat up our babysitters!”

Steve set Lisa down on the gurney that was being pushed forward but Lisa was semi-conscious and gripped his hand, but waved away the nurses with her other hand.

“I’m f-fine,” she mumbled. “S’just a cut.”

“Sir? Sit down and we’ll have a look at your injuries,” someone said from behind them, and Steve didn’t realise they were talking to him until someone tugged on his arm.

“No, I’m staying with her,” he protested, as they began to wheel her away on the gurney.

The nurse shook her head sympathetically, “the best you can do for her now is to cooperate, the doctors are having a look at her to see what’s going on.”

“You don’t understand, she’s-” he cut himself off, not sure what he was trying to say.

The nurse nodded and pointed him to seats just outside the emergency ward, where curtains were now drawn around Lisa.

“Please, sit down, so we can examine you. The quicker you listen to me, the quicker you’ll see your friend,” the nurse said, walking away before Steve could say another word.

Steve glanced back to where Dustin stood rooted to the spot, staring at the curtains around Lisa’s trolley.

The others stood nearby, talking worriedly about what to tell the police that would inevitably show up, and wondering what was happening with El, Will and the others.

Steve walked back over to the chairs and took Dustin by the shoulder, sitting him in the chair next to him.

“She’ll be okay, buddy,” Steve told him, patting the boy on his head.

Dustin nodded and looked up as another nurse came over.

The nurse was an older woman, with a kind face and plump curves. She reminded Dustin of their late grandmother, who had also been a nurse, and who had fed them too many cookies when they were little to be healthy for them.

She smiled warmly at them, pushing a trolley with trays and boxes of first aid supplies to a stop in front of Steve, “hi, kiddos. I’m Jean, I’ll be looking after you this evening.”

The nurse put on a pair of gloves and gave Steve a quick onceover, peeling off the steri-strips to replace them with clean ones.

“Whoever patched you up before did a darn good job, if I do say so,” she said cheerfully.

Steve swallowed heavily, “yeah, she did.”

The nurse cleaned Steve’s cuts with saline, and used alcohol swabs on the grime that had built up during their underground excursion.

“She wanted to be a nurse like our nana was,” Dustin said quietly, and Steve looked down at the younger boy in surprise. He’d never known that about Lisa, nor had he seen Dustin speak with such dejectedness.

The nurse, Jean, followed Dustin’s gaze to where Lisa was and gave him a sympathetic smile, “that’s your sister in there with the bump on her head?”

Dustin nodded and Jean kept talking as she re-dressed Steve’s split cheek and brow bone, “I was in there when the doctor had a look at her, she’ll be just fine.”

Dustin perked up, “she will?”

Steve watched the nurse as she beamed, hope rising in his own chest as the nurse nodded firmly, “you bet she will.”

She took the gloves off and put them in the small bin on the trolley, “but she’ll need to rest for a couple of days, can I ask you both to help her do that?”

“Yes!” Steve and Dustin both said eagerly and simultaneously.

Jean patted them both on the shoulder, “she’s very lucky to have you both. And I’m sure she’ll be a wonderful nurse someday, just like her nana.”

She winked at Dustin before she left with her trolley, who smiled broadly at her, and Steve felt himself smiling at the sight.

They rejoined the others in the waiting area, and the police arrived then, no doubt to investigate their story of the attack.

“So, let me make sure I’ve got this right,” Officer Powell said, sharing a suspicious look with Officer Calahan, “whoever attacked you and Miss Henderson also drugged Mr Hargrove with an illegally acquired sedative?”

“Yes, sir,” Steve said with a nod.

“But was it not Miss Henderson who called an ambulance for Mr Hargrove?” Officer Calahan asked.

“Yeah, she called them after we found Billy outside the Byers house, where we were all housesitting as a favour for Mrs Byers,” Steve told him, and the others nodded far too eagerly in agreement.

“Whovever drugged Billy probably didn’t think they’d be caught, but beat Steve up too when he went outside, and then Lisa called the ambulance,” Max said, scarily convincing.

“Yeah and they knocked Lisa out when she tried to help Steve, cos she saw who they were,” Lucas added. “But they probably weren’t locals or anyone you’d ever actually find-”

“Because they were wearing masks so she probably didn’t actually see who they were,” Dustin said, subtly elbowing Lucas.

“Right,” Officer Powell said, narrowing his eyes. “And where were the rest of you?”

“The bedroom!” Mike said hurriedly. “Lisa and Steve hid us in the bedroom so we wouldn’t get hurt when they went to check outside.”

Steve hid the pride he felt for how swiftly the kids managed to twist the evening to avoid casting suspicion on him and Lisa, but if he’d had his way he would’ve let Billy go down for all of it.

Lisa opened her eyes a while later to see that Steve was fast asleep in the chair next to her bed.

She glanced around the room with blurry vision to see her bed surrounded by more chairs, each one occupied by the sleeping figure of one of the kids.

She smiled happily and drifted off again.

When she properly woke up a while later, she was greeted by numerous hugs from Dustin and the other kids, and she got a kiss on the forehead from her mom who had been called along with some of the other parents.

When she was finally left alone, she glanced up to see Steve walking into the room with a bashful smile, “hey, Lise.”

“Hey, Steve,” she said, and she gestured to the chair next to the bed, which he pulled closer to her bedside and sat down.

He propped his chin on his hand, elbow resting on the side of her bed, “I’m glad you’re finally awake. You were in and out of it for a bit after the doctors fixed you up. They said it was the drugs they gave you and not to worry about a lasting concussion.”

She smiled as he rambled and he chuckled to himself, “anyway, how’re you feeling?”

She yawned, stretching her arms over her head, “I don’t think I’ve slept that deeply since the womb.”

Steve snorted and she reached out to squeeze his arm, “and you? Are you okay?”

He smiled at her, “I’m good now.”

She returned his smile, “I’m sorry for stealing your role as the dramatic one.”

He leaned back in his chair to let out a laugh and then pointed to his eye, “I’m the one with the bruised and bloodied-up face, so pretty sure I still win this one.”

She reached up to gently touch the dressing on her head, “please don’t tell me they had to shave a patch of my hair.”

Steve shook his head, “no, they told your mom that it was a small cut that they had to stitch but it was deep and had some, er, shards of glass stuck in it, which is why it kept bleeding.”

“Wonderful,” Lisa grimaced, but then she watched the animated demonstrations that the kids were performing for the parents in the waiting room.

Steve followed her gaze, “they’re scarily good at lying to authority figures.”

“I’ll bet,” Lisa said and then she smiled at Steve, “hey, I forgot to congratulate you.”

“Congratulate me?” Steve looked puzzled, his frown was marred by the mess of cuts and bruises on his face, but she could tell the expression he was attempting to make.

“Yeah, you kept the kids alive,” she teasingly poked him in the shoulder. “Not out of trouble, but alive.”

He toed off his shoes and propped his feet up on the side of her bed, looking sidelong at her in amusement, “it’s like you said, Henderson, I’m a damn good babysitter.”

Chapter Text

“Have you got everything, hon?”

Lisa allowed her mother to fuss over her as they approached the nurses station the following morning, Ms Henderson’s gentle hands brushing back her bangs to look at the stitches on her daughter’s head.

“Yeah, everything you brought for me,” she answered, lifting up the small overnight bag her mom had brought to the hospital with her last night and ducking away from her mother’s fretting.

“Okay, sweetie. Let’s just get you out of this place and I’ll tuck you up in bed with a cup of tea,” her Mom said, affectionately touching her cheek.

Though Lisa had only stayed overnight for observation, she was relieved to be leaving, wanting nothing more than her own bed.

“Thanks, Mom,” she said with an earnest smile.

She glanced around the busy hospital lobby as Claudia signed the discharge paperwork, but didn’t see anyone she recognised.

She knew that Billy was likely somewhere nearby, but she also knew he wouldn’t come near her after what had transpired the night before.

She pushed him out of her mind as they left the hospital, thanking the staff and linking her arm through her mom’s, wondering if it would be at all possible that she’d never see him again.

The automatic doors closed behind them, and after a moment, Billy stepped out from where he’d kept out of sight when he saw Lisa and her Mom crossing into the corridor in front of him.

He leaned an elbow on the desk, “discharge papers, please. Billy Hargrove.”

The nurse nodded and pulled out some papers, and Billy’s attention turned to the doors again, even though he couldn’t see Lisa anymore.

He’d tried and failed to push down the sick feeling in his stomach once he’d heard why she was there, and swallowed the guilt he felt when the cops had shown up and he’d told them that he didn’t know what had happened, that he had indeed been drugged like they said but couldn’t remember much else.

“…a completely senseless, criminal act,” the nurse was saying to him but he was hardly listening.

Billy’s head shot around, the words pulling him out of his own thoughts, “what is?”

“The carjacking and attempted burglary you poor kids went through,” the nurse said with a sympathetic tone though she was busy organising patient files on the desk in front of her.

“That’s…what everyone’s saying?” He asked, brows furrowing.

“Of course, the cops are making everyone aware. Only the other kids insisted they weren’t locals,” she continued, not looking up at him.

“Right,” Billy said flatly, and he picked up the pen she’d put up on the desk for him to use.

They’d all lied, and for that reason he wasn’t in jail. At least not yet.

“You poor kids,” she said with a sigh, shaking her head, and then she put the papers up on the desk for him to sign. “Your sister got help straight away, told everyone that some thugs had attacked the older teens who were babysitting her and her friends, that they’d got to you first.”

“Stepsister,” he corrected automatically.

He wondered if he should be thankful that this gossiping, chatty nurse was filling in the blanks of how the situation, everything that had happened the night before, had been explained away.

“What was that, dear?” The nurse asked, finally looking up at him.

Max hadn’t thrown him under the bus. But why?

He cleared his throat and shook his head, “nothin’.”

Once he’d discharged himself, Billy left the hospital as quickly as possible, where his car sat in the parking lot, towed there as a favour by the cops after they’d finished asking questions and had managed to find his keys in the grass outside the Byers house where Lisa had thrown them out of his reach.

He knew that he was the reason she was in hospital, just as he knew he’d almost killed Harrington in his blind rage. In an even more frightening realisation, he knew that in the space of one evening, he’d turned into his father, the very man he feared and loathed above everything else in the world.

Despite that, Lisa had still thrown away his keys.

In a display of the real good that he’d no longer believed anyone to have, she’d made sure he didn’t drive in his drugged state, and risked crashing his damn car.

The one real source of good in his life, and he’d lost her. He tried to blame Harrington but as much as he hated to admit it, it was his own fault.

Part of him wished she’d let him drive, and that he had crashed and disappeared forever into a ditch somewhere.

He put his head against the steering wheel and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment as his chest tightened, and then he sat back in his seat and put a cigarette between his lips, cursing himself for the tremble of his hands as he lit it.

He was a broken person, and he’d have to work every minute of every day to make sure he didn’t turn into his father ever again.

So, when he got home that afternoon, he walked past Max without meeting her eye and without throwing a single venomous word in her direction.

He kept his head down and his mouth shut, and that’s how things would go from now on.

—

After Eleven closed the gate, everyone who had been at the Byers house before met there again a few days later so that Nancy and Jonathan could fill them all in on the work they’d been doing to bring down Hawkins Lab.

With the help of an eccentric man named Murray Bauman, the mention of whom made Hopper groan in annoyance, they managed to leak all the evidence they’d gathered to the press.

The well-orchestrated compilation of audio recordings that Murray had edited to make more ‘believable’ to the public by removing any and all mention of alternate dimensions and monsters, and the subsequent pressure of being in the global spotlight, resulted in high-ranking members of the US Department of Energy finally admitting involvement in the cover up of Barb’s death.

The news was devastating for the town, and while it wasn’t the full truth as some of them knew it, that Barb hadn’t died of exposure to some chemical pollution from the lab, at least the Hollands had closure, and could finally mourn their daughter.

The day of Barb’s funeral a month later was one that Lisa had dreaded beyond any other.

So much had happened since they’d lost her, but Lisa would never be able to forget her steadfast, quietly witty, and solid friend.

She and Nancy cried in each other’s arms, the guilt and grief that Nancy had shouldered alone was now shared and they could now mourn their best friend, together.

Barb’s other friends, people she’d known as a child, were there with her extended family in the graveyard after the service.

While they waited for the hearse to arrive at the graveyard, everyone mingled quietly, and Lisa crossed through the headstones to talk to a girl she hadn’t seen since the middle school’s 1978 production of the Wizard of Oz.

The girl waved at her as she approached and they talked for a while about Barb, before saying goodbye and returning to their respective groups as the coffin arrived.

“How’re you holding up?” Steve asked her as she came to stand at his side.

Her eyes were dry now, the fresh air and brief interlude in the service helping her to gather herself, but she still had to swallow a lump in her throat as she spoke.

“It still feels so surreal,” she answered.

He nodded, “it is surreal.”

He stood close to her, his presence comforting her without them needing to speak, and she leaned her shoulder slightly against his arm to ground herself, hold herself together.

But when the empty coffin was lowered into the ground, her grief spilled over like a broken dam once again.

Wordlessly, Steve wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she cried quietly into his chest while he rubbed her back.

Nearby, Nancy, in her own grief, held onto Jonathan’s hand, feeling his silent support as their work to uncover the truth paid off.

It was still hard to believe how much had changed in the space of a year for both girls, in terms of their friendships and relationships, but also in their understanding of the reality of what was going on in their once-mundane world.

But after that day, life somehow went back to normal, where the only thing they had to worry about was school.

One of the biggest changes for Lisa was how Steve was almost always at her side after the events of the past few weeks. Who’d have believed that almost dying together twice, even three times in one weekend could bring two people closer together.

She found that she was grateful for his constant and even sometimes exasperating attempts at cheering her up.

But she also knew that he needed her too, in a way.

She noticed how he’d grow quiet whenever he saw Nancy and Jonathan together in school, openly as a couple now, and that he’d try to brush it off but she could see how his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes afterwards.

When Steve was feeling down about it all, all it took was a reassuring smile or a comforting squeeze on his arm from Lisa, and he felt okay again.

In those final months of 1984, Steve came to realise that Lisa always helped him to feel okay again.

He was quiet one day in the cafeteria, after walking past Nancy and Jonathan kissing at the lockers, so Lisa decided to imitate him by fussing with her hair and holding a french fry like a cigarette, saying some very silly Steve-like things until he was doubled over in laughter.

He swore then as he watched her laughing at herself that he would never again do something that would risk the friendship that they’d worked so hard to rebuild.

Nothing could be worth losing Lisa as his friend. Nothing.

—

By the middle of December, things were almost normal again. Or, as normal as they could be.

In the strangest set of events to happen in weeks, Lisa knocked at the front door of a home she’d never been to, and awkwardly awaited an answer.

Hopper opened the door and blinked down at her, “I don’t want girl scout cookies.”

She narrowed her eyes, “good, you could do with taking a break for once.”

He narrowed his own gaze at her, but then he huffed a laugh and stepped back, “good thing Joyce called ahead saying she’d talked to you. The kid’s through that door.”

Eleven opened her bedroom door slowly, shyly observing Lisa as she crossed the cabin.

Lisa held up the bag in her hand, grinning, “I’ve got those dresses for you to try for the snow ball.”

The bedroom door opened quickly and Eleven’s face lit up into a real, happy smile.

Jim Hopper couldn’t hold back his own smile at the sight.

—

Later that evening, Lisa sat at her vanity at home, attempting to pin back some of her curls.

She, Nancy, Jonathan and Steve, and a number of others from the high school had volunteered to work as chaperones for the Hawkins Middle School Snow Ball that evening.

Lisa really didn’t even know why she was putting so much effort into her hair and makeup, or why she’d spent hours in town the previous weekend looking for the perfect dress, especially considering that her evening would be spent making sure no middle school kids got up to idiotic behaviour. As per usual.

She settled on a navy-blue lace dress with short sleeves, and pulled on matching low heels. She looked at herself in the full-length mirror on the outside of her closet, and after a spray of perfume, she reached for her hairspray, but it wasn’t there.

“I swear it was right here this morning,” she said, blinking in confusion.

Then, a realisation struck her and she flung open her door and pounded on her brother’s bedroom door across the hall.

“Dustin, give me back my hairspray!” she shouted.

“I’m nearly done with it! Just gimme a minute, jeez!” He shouted back.

She scowled as if he could see her glare through the closed door, but she heard the doorbell ringing so she hurried back into her room and slammed the door.

She leaned her ear to the door, and heard her mom gushing over someone, and introducing whoever it was to the new kitten Lisa and Dustin had got her from the shelter.

“Lisa! Dusty! Your ride is here!” their mom called.

“Shit!” Lisa gasped in a panic.

He was early.

She glanced down at her watch and realised with mild exasperation that he was actually right on time.

She hurried over to the mirror to give herself a once over, and decided she’d have to do without the hairspray seeing as Dustin had stolen it.

Lisa made sure her eyeshadow and lipstick were both perfect, and then she picked up her purse and jacket, taking a deep breath before opening her door.

She walked down the hall to the living room, where Steve stood with his back to her, wearing a nice jacket with formal trousers, unlike his usual jeans.

He laughed at something Mrs Henderson said, and reached over to scratch the kitten behind the ears. Lisa stopped on the spot, surprised at the sight of him having what looked like a genuinely lovely, non-awkward conversation with her mother.

Mrs Henderson turned around and her eyes went wide, “oh, sweetie. You look beautiful!”

Steve looked over his shoulder, and he couldn’t help how his eyes widened when he saw Lisa standing there.

He always thought she looked nice, even when she was wearing her usual jeans and a shirt or sweater. But now she was standing there, wearing a pretty dress and smiling shyly and averting her eyes while rummaging around for something in her purse, and he couldn’t stop staring at her.

Lisa gave up pretending to look for something in her purse and straightened up, and then she approached Steve slowly, an almost nervous smile on her face, “um, hey.”

“Hey,” Steve said hoarsely, and it was just about the only word he could get out, so he cleared his throat and tried again. “Hey.”

“I’ll just see if Dusty’s nearly ready!” Mrs Henderson said brightly, scurrying out of the room.

Steve swallowed heavily, his eyes not leaving Lisa’s face.

She self-consciously combed her fingers through her bangs, ensuring the hair covered the small pink scar that was now just beyond her hairline, and then she looked up at him, “is it too much? I know I’m technically just chaperoning so maybe I look too-”

“No!” Steve said straight away before he could stop himself, “no, I mean, um, you look…you look great. Really great.”

He thought he’d said the wrong thing when she raised her eyebrows in surprise, but then she beamed at him, and he felt himself smiling back, realising that he’d do whatever he could to keep seeing that smile.

She brushed her hand lightly over the shoulder of his jacket and then left her hand there when she grinned up at him, “you look great too. Nice jacket.”

He bowed his head bashfully and chuckled slightly, “thanks, stole it from my dad’s closet. You don’t think I look like a clown?”

She smirked, “no more than usual.”

Steve shook his head in amusement, but before he could say anything, Ms Henderson hurried back into the living room.

“Dusty will be out in a minute!”

Lisa stepped back from Steve, realising then how close she’d been standing to him, with her hand still on his shoulder.

Claudia looked between them warmly, and then her eyes lit up, “oh! Let me get my camera!”

“No, Mom it’s-”

But her mother waved her off and put the kitten down on the couch, where it sat blinking curiously at them, and then it began scratching at the upholstery.

“Less of a demon than Mews?” Steve whispered.

Lisa laughed, “so far, she’s an angel.”

Claudia returned quickly with the camera in hand and gestured at Lisa to stand at the front door with the nice plants beside it for a pretty background, but Lisa didn’t move an inch.

“Please, honey!” Ms Henderson implored her.

Lisa sighed loudly and did as she was told, and smiled for a photograph, and then her mom looked to Steve, “come on now, another one of both of you.”

“Mom-”

“Shush. Now, Steve, over you go,” Ms Henderson said, and Steve swallowed heavily and nodded, walking over to Lisa.

Lisa groaned in embarrassment, but Steve just laughed, and when she saw him smiling, she felt more at ease. He put his arm around her waist, and purposely poked her in the side as he did so, making her squirm and laugh.

He relented, but they were both wearing real smiles as Lisa leaned into his side and they looked at the camera.

“Oh, how adorable,” Mrs Henderson said, positively elated. Then, she turned over her shoulder, “DUSTIN!”

“I’m coming! Jesus Christ,” Dustin shouted, walking down the hall and stopping in the living room to stare at them.

He narrowed his eyes, “why do you have your arm around my sister?”

Lisa rolled her eyes but put some space between herself and Steve as she approached her brother.

“So that’s why you stole my hairspray?” she nodded pointedly to Dustin’s hair, which was styled in a very un-Dustin-like way.

“Yup, sue me,” he said with a shrug, and their Mom went over to pinch his cheeks adoringly.

After a number of more photographs were taken, Lisa hurried across the house to use what small remnants of hairspray Dustin had left, and then the three of them piled into Steve’s car.

Lisa put herself in the backseat, figuring that Steve might have some words of potential wisdom for Dustin.

They all chatted as they drove, but Dustin grew visibly anxious as they pulled into the middle school parking lot.

Steve turned to him as the younger boy looked self-consciously in the mirror at himself, “hey, no, come on. You look great, okay?”

Dustin nodded, and Lisa smiled at the interaction, sitting back in her seat quietly.

“Now, you’re gonna go in there, look like a million bucks, and you’re gonna slay ‘em dead,” Steve said.

“Like a lion,” Dustin responded, purring in that strange way of his.

Silence fell in the car and Lisa leaned forward, “yeah, don’t do that.”

“Agreed. Don’t,” Steve said, and then he gave Dustin what Lisa could only describe as a ‘bro shake’.

“Good luck.”

Lisa patted Dustin’s shoulder encouragingly, “go get ‘em, bud. We’ll see you in there.”

Dustin nodded and climbed out, and then Steve turned to her, “it’s cold out so you go ahead while I find somewhere to park.”

Lisa blinked in surprise, “are you sure? I don’t mind walking.”

Steve smirked, “yes, I’m sure, but don’t trip in those heels before I get there to watch.”

Lisa whacked his shoulder and rolled her eyes, but she was smiling, and then she climbed out of the car.

She turned around to ask him if he wanted her to get him a drink when she went in, but he was already staring intently in her direction, leaning down to look through the passenger-side window.

Lisa felt a jolt of pleasant surprise in her stomach, but after a quick glance over her shoulder, she saw Nancy standing just inside the door talking to some of the teachers.

Lisa cleared her throat, ignoring the slight disappointment she felt “um, I’ll see you inside.” Then she quickly turned around and walked into the school to talk to her friend.

Steve’s brows furrowed in confusion at her abrupt departure, his eyes following her as she walked away.

Shit, she’d noticed him staring.

“Goddamnit, Harrington,” he groaned at himself as he drove away from the entrance to find a parking spot.

Lisa greeted her former teachers as she passed them, and then playfully wrapped her arms around Nancy from behind and put her chin on her shoulder, “guess who.”

Nancy laughed, and turned around to hug her friend tightly. She pulled back then and looked at her, “Lisa, you look amazing.”

“Speak for yourself, Nance, I told you that dress would look good on you, and don’t get me started on your hair! Gorgeous,” Lisa told her, and Nancy laughed fondly, linking her arm through Lisa’s as they walked the rest of the way into the gymnasium.

“Wow, this looks great,” Lisa observed, looking around at the white and blue decorations that had completely transformed the gymnasium from how she remembered it.

They went to the refreshments table to serve non-alcoholic punch to some of the kids, taking turns between serving and putting out fresh cups.

A boy came up to them with a smirk on his face, “what’s in this?”

“Pure fuel,” Nancy said, handing him a cup.

Lisa had to stifle a laugh, and the two shared a look of amusement at the memory from the Halloween party

They continued serving drinks, and Lisa caught Nancy grinning. She followed her gaze and saw she was smiling at Jonathan, and Lisa smiled privately to herself.

She looked up to see where Steve had gotten to, and she saw him teaching the four boys how to properly ask a girl to dance, and she rolled her eyes fondly.

Once another chaperone came around to relieve them of drinks duty, the two girls went over to Jonathan, who gave Lisa a tight hug of greeting.

“Hey, Lise, you clean up well,” he teased, bumping his shoulder against hers.

“At least one of us does,” she answered and he snorted in laughter.

Then, he smiled softly at Nancy and looked between the two girls, and nodded to the background that had been set up for him to take photographs at.

“Come on, get in for a picture,” he said, and the two girls held hands and eagerly ran over to the space.

They got a photo of them smiling and another one of them pulling funny faces at the camera, which made Jonathan laugh until there were tears in his eyes.

Max arrived then, and Lisa waved at the girl from the photography stall, and she smiled and waved back.

A while later, Lisa saw Dustin standing next to Mike, staring at the dancefloor. She looked around for Lucas or Max, and then she saw the pair dancing together, as Cindy Lauper played from the speakers.

Lisa understood why Dustin looked so dejected then, so she excused herself from Nancy and Jonathan and walked over to her brother, pulling him aside.

“Hey, you okay, bud?” she asked gently.

He nodded, but was clearly not okay.

“Why don’t you ask one of those girls to dance?” she nodded to a group of girls standing across the room.

“I don’t know how,” he mumbled.

She put her hands on his shoulders, making him look at her as she spoke, “Dustin, you’ve helped to take down literal monsters. You can ask a girl to dance.”

“What if she says no?”

Lisa sighed, “if she does, then she does. It’s not the end of the world, and middle schoolers can be assholes. Trust me, I’m related to one.”

She gave him a tiny shake and he smiled at her, but then his smile faded into a frown, “I dunno, Lise, I don’t want to screw it up.”

“They’d be lucky to dance with you, Dustin. Just look how goddamn snazzy you look!” she told him firmly with a reassuring smile. “Just ask, that’s all you can do. If they say no, move on to the next.”

He nodded and smiled, straightening up with confidence, “okay, thanks Lisa.”

“See you later, buddy,” she said, leaving him to his own devices.

Nancy watched as Lisa left to go to the bathroom, and she sidled up to Steve who was supervising from the side near the bleachers after talking to his former middle school coach.

“Hey,” she said as she approached him.

He looked down at her in surprise, “oh. Hey, Nancy.”

“It was nice of you to volunteer to help out,” she said.

He chuckled, “I wasn’t going to, but those Hendersons can be very persuasive. And turns out, they’re both big fans of emotional blackmail.”

Nancy laughed and then she looked at him cautiously, “so, how…how have you been?”

He coughed slightly, “um, yeah, I’ve been good. Thanks. You?”

She smiled, “I’m good.”

They looked out at the students dancing, and there were a number of teachers and parent chaperones dancing and laughing too, and an idea struck Nancy.

“Hey, Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“You should ask Lisa to dance,” she said, fighting a smile as his eyebrows shot up to his hair.

“I should what now?”

“Ask her to dance! Why not, right?” she smiled at him and he blinked in confusion.

“Because she’s my friend and she’ll think it’s weird and say no and I’ll want the ground to swallow me whole?” Steve said as if it was the most obvious thing ever.

“She won’t say no, she loves to dance! Trust me,” Nancy said encouragingly.

“Yeah, but…” Steve trailed off with a shrug.

Nancy fixed him with a look, “you won’t know until you ask.”

“I can’t ask! I don’t know-”

“Steve, we all saw you advising the boys on how to ask girls to dance, cut yourself some slack,” Nancy said knowingly, raising her eyebrows at him.

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, as he usually did when he was stressed, and then his eyes fell on someone sitting on the bleachers, visibly upset.

“Oh, shit,” Steve said, and Nancy followed his gaze.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of this,” Nancy said, and Steve watched in a mix of amazement and relief as she went over and asked Dustin to dance with her, and the boy’s face lit up like a Christmas tree.

Lisa walked back into the hall, subconsciously fixing her hair and brushing her hands down the skirt of her dress, and she looked around the gym.

Steve raised his hand in a small wave to catch her attention, and she grinned and walked over, and Steve could feel his heartbeat picking up in his chest as he actually considered Nancy’s suggestion.

Of course he could ask Lisa to dance. They were friends, good friends, who spent so much time together anyway. It wasn’t weird, and he just needed to pull his head out of his ass.

“Is Dustin okay?” Lisa asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

She was watching in surprise as Nancy danced with him, clearly giving him a pep talk as he wiped at his face.

“Oh, um, yeah, I think some of those girls turned him down,” Steve said with a wince.

“Damn it, girls that age are so dumb,” she muttered, crossing her arms.

“You weren’t,” Steve said.

She looked up at him, “huh?”

“You weren’t dumb, you were- are, crazy smart. You never let me have a moment of peace,” his dark eyes glinted in humour.

She laughed and gave him a shove, “shut up, Harrington.”

They watched their younger friends all laughing and enjoying themselves. Mike and Eleven, who was wearing one of the dresses that Lisa had brought for her to try on, were dancing together happily. Max and Lucas were smiling shyly at each other as they swayed together. Jonathan was giving Will a supportive thumbs up while the latter danced awkwardly with a girl from his class, and Nancy and Dustin were having the time of their lives nearby.

“It’s nice to see them just being kids for once, without all this saving-the-town crap,” Lisa noted.

Steve grinned at her, “you can say that again.”

He was looking at her just as the song changed, and her face lit up, “finally, a song that didn’t just come out in the last six months!”

“You like this song?” he asked her, feeling his palms beginning to sweat.

She nodded happily, “yeah, Mom bought me the tape for my birthday when it came out. This is one of my favourites.”

“Would you, um-” he cleared his throat and wiped his hands on his trousers. “Lisa?”

She turned to look at him and when she gave him a curious but amused smile, he felt his nerves ebb away.

He held out a hand, “do you wanna dance? With me?”

She grinned at him and he felt that strange warmth in his chest again.

“Let’s go,” she took his hand, and as she dragged him out onto the dance floor, trying to ignore the way her cheeks were heating up as she held his hand in hers.

He put his hands on her waist and she reached up to put her hands on his shoulders, standing close and grinning up at him.

Steve couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this happy, and a memory struck him suddenly, “remember our Snow Ball?”

She chuckled at the memory, “when we tore up the dancefloor like it was the machine at the arcade? Yeah, I remember.”

Steve bit back a laugh, “do you remember the song?”

Lisa considered that for a moment and then gasped, bringing a hand to her mouth, “oh my God. Dancing Queen. ABBA.”

They burst into laughter as they moved to the music and Steve held onto her forearms as she almost doubled over in hysterics.

He lifted a hand to wipe away tears of laughter from his own eyes, “I was a cool thirteen-year old, I swear.”

Lisa laughed even harder, “sure you were, Steve.”

“Shut up, Henderson,” he said, unable to fight the huge smile on his face. “Aren’t you the one who tried to convince me to learn a routine for the song cos you knew they’d play it?”

“Oh, Jesus,” she gasped, hardly able to catch her breath between laughs. “Yeah, I’m so glad you put your foot down and wouldn’t learn one with me.”

He looked at her and saw that her mascara had smudged slightly from her tears of laughter, “here, hold on.”

She stilled slightly as he gently brushed the pad of his thumb against her cheekbone, and she found herself staring at how intently focused he was fixing on her makeup.

He smiled, straightening up, completely oblivious, “there, perfect.”

He almost corrected himself as soon as he heard the word leave his mouth, but then Lisa reached up and mussed his hair fondly.

Usually he’d throw a fit if anyone tried to touch his hair, but not with her. For some reason, he didn’t mind that she was touching his hair.

He just shook his head in amusement, “not the hair, please. It’s my trademark feature.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, putting it back to the way it had been before, but she couldn’t hold back her smile.

She moved her hands down from his shoulders to rest flat below his collarbone, and he mirrored her grin as they continued talking and laughing, even as the music changed to an upbeat dance number.

Jonathan sidled up to Nancy across the gym, and followed her gaze to Lisa and Steve, who were dancing along to the song she’d bribed the DJ to play because she knew it was a favourite of Lisa's.

“Wow, they’re really getting along now, huh?” Jonathan said, his eyebrows raised.

Nancy watched the pair laughing and joking around, “yeah they are.”

“Does it…make you feel weird?” Jonathan asked, and Nancy chuckled and shook her head.

She reached down and took Jonathan’s hand in hers, “no, it doesn’t. I’ve found what I need.”

He smiled at her, almost hopefully, “you have?”

Nancy returned his smile and nodded, giving his hand a gentle squeeze, “yeah, I have.”

And then she turned to look at Lisa and Steve having the time of their lives on the dancefloor, wrapped up in each other and oblivious to everyone around them.

“And I think they have too.”

Chapter Text

“You’re doing really well,” Lisa said, looking up from Steve’s latest algebra test.

They were sitting in the school library, which was full of students who were panicking over the upcoming Christmas tests just like Steve.

He groaned and leaned back in his chair, stretching his long legs out even further, and Lisa sitting across the small table from him had to nudge his shin with the toe of her sneakers to remind him that she, too, had legs that needed room.

He mumbled an apology and straightened up, and then rolled his head back and groaned again, loud enough to earn him shushes from the neighbouring table of students.

“Sorry,” he muttered and he gave Lisa a pleading look. “Today is going just about as well as my future is. Which is not well.”

“The point is, you’re improving,” Lisa told him, leaning across the table to tap her finger on the red, circled D-plus on his test. “You were failing before, and now you’re getting Ds, and next you’ll be getting even better grades.”

Steve wiped a hand down his face, “it doesn’t even matter, I’m not going to college. I should just drop out now before Christmas break, and then find a job somewhere. Then I won’t have to keep embarrassing my parents by failing finals and not graduating.”

Lisa schooled her features to hide the surprise at the mention of his parents, because Steve rarely talked about them, since they were hardly ever around, but she leaned forward to catch his attention with an imploring look.

“With that mindset, you’ll probably fail,” she said sternly. “But I won’t let you spiral like that, and I’m only helping you with algebra, your geometry is fine. Your essays for history and english are so much clearer than before, which will really help with your personal essay. And no, you’re not embarrassing anyone, that’s a them problem.”

“But-”

“Nope,” Lisa said, shaking her head.

He gave her a withering glare, “hey, I appreciate what you’re doing, but I know I’m not the smartest-”

“Stop,” she said so sharply that he clamped his mouth shut, and ignoring the shushes she was getting after raising her volume for one syllable, she gave Steve such a fierce look that he was debating looking around for the emergency exits.

“You are smart, Steve,” she said in a low but sharp voice. “I don’t know why the world around us puts so much emphasis on booksmarts and good grades equating intelligence but it’s wrong. All you have to do is look at some of the top academic performers in your cohort and you’ll see how little of a fuck they give about the people around them.”

It was Steve’s turn to be surprised, but Lisa wasn’t finished, “you make people feel seen and heard, and valued, and I think that means a hell of a lot more than getting an A in algebra or getting into some college that your parents picked out. Now shut up and redo those last two equations without checking your notes.”

She sat back in her chair with a huff of exasperation aimed at everything but Steve, who stared at her with raised brows.

“Yes, ma’am,” he answered, turning to a fresh page in his notepad.

She met his eye over the biology notes she was writing out on her own side of the table, and the corners of her mouth twitched into an unintentional smile, and he didn’t hide his own amusement.

“Feel better after that?” he asked, referring to her rant.

“Yes, a lot,” she answered brightly, picking up her pen.

Silence fell between them then and after a few moments, Steve broke the quiet.

“Lise?”

“Mhm?”

“Thanks. It means a lot, what you said,” he said with surprising earnestness.

Lisa looked up from her notes and smiled, poking his knee with the toe of her sneaker, “don’t thank me, just stop belittling yourself. But…you’re welcome.”

He grinned and gave her a two fingered salute before looking back down at his algebra.

Lisa kept her eyes on him for a moment longer, still smiling to herself, before turning back to her own work.

—

Lisa shoved her empty bag of popcorn into the trashcan outside the movie theatre, giving it a fond look over her shoulder as Steve walked beside her.

“I can’t believe they’re closing it in a few months,” she said sadly.

“I know,” Steve said with a sigh. “That place practically raised us.”

“Maybe the new one will be better? That is, if the mall ever actually opens,” Lisa said as they walked towards Steve’s car. “You know how these ‘spectacular’ new builds go.”

They both pulled their jackets tighter around them as the mid-December air chilled them through their clothes.

“Apparently it’s opening in May, last Dad heard,” Steve said with a shrug. “So, Red Dawn?”

Lisa rolled her eyes at the mention of the movie they’d just seen, glad they’d waited for the Christmas break showings to see it for the first time.

“A group of teenagers engaging in guerilla tactics against the Soviets? So unrealistic,” she said.

Steve gaped at her, “and you thought The Terminator was better?”

“I do!” She answered, “and you’ve chosen the last two times so the next movie we watch is my choice.”

Steve frowned but then smiled, “well, it’s a damn shame that the theatres are closed until the new year.”

Lisa rolled her eyes, “well, that’s only two weeks away. Plus, you’ve got a massive TV set at your house, and I’ve got the VHS.”

“Goddamnit,” Steve groaned but he was smiling as he started the car.

They pulled up outside the Henderson house a few minutes later, but Lisa was reluctant to get out of the car so instead she turned to Steve, “I’m so excited for Christmas.”

“Really?

“Yeah! I love drinking cocoa in front of the fire and watching Christmas movies. I mean, it’s always just the three of us, but it’s great. Dad joins us for Christmas day usually, but this year…” she frowned and Steve turned in his seat to face her.

“What’s up?”

“Dad’s going to Florida to spend Christmas with his girlfriend and her family,” Lisa admitted, awkwardly picking at a loose thread on the sleeve of her jacket. “Don’t say anything to Dustin, he’s really upset about it.”

“I won’t mention it,” Steve said.

Lisa gave him a brief but grateful smile, “what about you? Is your family doing anything nice for Christmas?”

“Oh, um…” Steve’s brow furrowed. "I’d sorta forgotten about it. I spent last year with Na- at the Wheelers, and my parents are going abroad again this year. I don’t really wanna go with them.”

“No?”

Steve shook his head, “if it were just for a vacation, great. But my dad wants to meet some of his business guys in Munich, Germany. I don’t want to sit there feeling like a huge disappointment while they’re all asking my parents what my prospects are.”

Lisa didn’t know what to say but Steve just shrugged half-heartedly, “so pizza and a movie for me.”

“No way!” Lisa said immediately. “You’re spending Christmas with us.”

Steve’s brows shot up to his hairline, “what? Lise, I can’t do that-”

Lisa was already climbing out of the car, “of course you can. In fact, I’ll ask Mom right now.”

Steve scrambled out, trying to catch up with her but she was already inside, and Ms Henderson was beaming as he awkwardly stepped through the front door.

“Oh, Steve, of course you can join us for Christmas! It’s just the three of us this year, you see…and, well…” Claudia Henderson’s face fell slightly and she fumbled with the dish cloth in her hands.

Steve took that moment to speak up, swallowing his own nerves for the sake of putting a smile on that kind woman’s face, “I’d be honoured, Ms Henderson. My parents are travelling this Christmas.”

Claudia beamed and Lisa’s own smile grew at the same time Steve’s did.

“Well, there’s no backing out now Steve. I’m cooking for four this Christmas,” Claudia reached up to give Steve a gentle pat on his cheek before turning back to the stove where something with a delightful smell was cooking.

The front door opened then, and Dustin came in with his cheeks tinged pink from the exertion of cycling.

“Hi. Hey. Hello. Sorry,” he wheezed. “Will’s comeback campaign was wild. Took longer than we thought.”

Their mother just smiled and smacked a kiss on his cheek, “that’s okay, hon! And what a treat, Steve is joining us for Christmas.”

Dustin looked at Steve, and Steve looked back at Dustin.

Lisa held her breath until both exclaimed in delight, pumping their fists in the air.

“Finally some entertainment other than Lisa this year!” Dustin said, his arms opening to embrace Steve, who laughed and hugged the younger boy.

“Hey!” Lisa retorted defensively.

“I’m not with my ex and her family, so there’s that!” Steve answered brightly, patting Dustin on the back as they broke from their hug.

Dustin shook Steve’s hand, “Godspeed, my friend. Welcome to the funhouse.”

“Oh, how exciting!” Claudia Henderson, already altering her shopping list with a smile on her face.

—

Dustin rammed a paper crown from a Christmas cracker down onto Steve’s head, and the older boy flailed his arms in protest, “hey, watch the waves, man!”

“Farrah. Fawcett." Dustin said loudly and Lisa snorted into her dessert bowl.

“Don’t you dare,” Steve said, pointing a finger in Dustin’s face.

“What about her?” Ms Henderson asked.

“Nothing, Mom,” Lisa said and her mother nodded, understanding that there was no point trying to make sense of the comedy duo act in front of her.

“‘Don’t you dare’,” Dustin repeated in a mock tone. “You know, if you spent half the time on your wardrobe that you do on your hair you’d get more dates.”

“Oh really?” Steve answered, eyebrows raised as he eyed Dustin’s T-shirt. “‘Ah! The Element of Surprise’ is literally what your shirt says.”

“Excuse me, this shirt is ironic because it’s not a real element, it’s actually a joke based on-”

“Oh and you’re a romance guru now, are you? How’s that working out for you?” Steve interrupted.

Lisa bit back a snort of laughter as she stood to help her mom to clear the dessert dishes, but then Dustin whipped Steve with an unused Christmas cracker and she burst out in a laugh.

“Too far! Help?” Steve looked at Lisa pleadingly as he tried to shield himself from Dustin's attack.

She shook her head, “nope, you’re on your own, Harrington!”

“Fine!” Steve snatched the cracker from Dustin’s hands and gave the younger boy a sharp whack on the top of his head.

Both Lisa and her mother laughed as the boys squabbled between themselves, and Claudia gave her daughter a pointed look as she put the leftovers into the fridge.

“What’s that look for?” Lisa asked, her voice low enough not to be overheard by the boys.

Claudia tutted fondly, “nothing, hon.”

“Mom,” Lisa said meaningfully, crossing her arms.

Her mother smiled at her, “well, it’s just very nice to have Steve around.”

Lisa rolled her eyes, “he’s been at the house before, Mom.”

“I know, years ago. But Dustin really seems to look up to him, and you smile more when he’s around too,” Claudia said, her brows raised pointedly.

Lisa let out an awkward laugh, “it’s hard not to when his mouth moves quicker than his thoughts do.”

Claudia chuckled and gave her daughter a peck on the cheek, “go on, join them in the living room. I’ll finish up here.”

“Are you sure-”

“Lisa, go,” Claudia said with her gentle firmness that Lisa knew not to disobey.

She beckoned to the boys to join her in the small living room, and put the VHS they’d rented for the evening into the player.

She plopped down onto the couch next to Steve who stopped pestering Dustin for long enough to give her a smile.

“I’m happy you’re here,” she said quietly.

His smile grew, his eyes crinkling at the edges as he wrapped an arm over her shoulders in a brief but fond hug.

“I’m happy I’m here, too.”

“Wonderful. You’re happy, she’s happy, we’re all happy,” Dustin said impatiently. “Let’s watch the movie.”

“Aiming for coal in your stocking next year, bud?” Lisa asked with a grin, picking up the kitten who bumped her head against Lisa’s shins.

Dustin gave her the most sarcastic smile she’d ever seen, “you’re hilarious.”

Lisa crossed one of her legs over the other and put the kitten down onto her lap, then settled back into the couch cushions, “funnier than you anyway.”

“Both of my children are funny, let’s leave it there, yes?” Claudia said, joining them and sitting down into her chair.

Lisa winced as the kitten immediately abandoned her to hop up onto their mother’s lap.

“Bastard,” Lisa muttered and Steve snorted a laugh, leaning back onto the couch cushions next to her as Dustin pressed play on the remote.

The movie started and Steve turned his head to look at her, so Dustin, who sat on his other side, wouldn’t hear.

“Seriously, thank you for today.”

She turned her head to meet his gaze, “thank you for making it a better day.”

His grin widened again and then Dustin cleared his throat loudly and pointedly as the movie started, and both Lisa and Steve had to stifle their laughs.

It was the best Christmas they’d all had in a long time.

—

Steve sighed loudly and flung his notepad onto the coffee table in front of the large couch in his living room, glaring at it as though he could use Eleven’s powers to fling it across the living room.

“There is no point in me studying for finals. I haven’t applied for any colleges, I don’t even know what I wanna do,” he muttered.

“Hey,” Lisa said, leaning forward to catch his eye. “You don’t have to know what you want to do just yet. Take a year out, get a job, and apply for something when you’re ready.”

He considered her for a moment, and nodded thoughtfully, “yeah, maybe I’ll work for my dad for the year and then become a hippie or join a cult.”

“It’s nice that you listen to me sometimes without catastrophising,” Lisa with a sigh.

“It’s almost February and I’m spiralling, so deal with it, Henderson,” Steve his legs, attempting to stick his socked feet into her face while she slapped them away with a shout of disgust.

The front door of the large house opened abruptly and they both froze, since usually it was just the two of them in the house.

“Steve, are you home?” The sound of heels clicking on the tiles made them both jump up from the couch.

Mrs Harrington walked in, with her neatly styled hair and perfect makeup.

“Didn’t think you were coming home tonight,” Steve said awkwardly, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets.

His mother didn’t look at them as she walked over to the island in the kitchen and opened her clutch handbag and took out her purse, “oh, I’m not home tonight, your father and I have that gala in Indianapolis, remember? We’ll be gone for a few days so here-”

She put a wad of cash from her purse onto the counter and continued, “-this should be enough if you want to order takeout. Now, I’m just here to pick up my dress and your father’s new suit, and then-”

Mrs Harrington paused and looked up at them for the first time, “who’s this, dear? What happened to the Wheeler girl?”

Steve shuffled awkwardly, “me and Nancy broke up, Mom. Like, two months ago. I told you.”

Mrs Harrington waved her hand, “I can’t keep track. Who’s this, then?”

“This is Lisa, Mom,” Steve answered flatly. “You’ve met her before.”

Mrs Harrington smiled a perfectly white smile and walked over to them, “Lisa Henderson? Is that you? You look so grown up.”

“It’s good to see you again, Mrs Harrington,” Lisa said politely, feeling Mrs Harrington’s scrutinizing gaze observing her up and down.

“Honey, please, call me Sandra,” the elegant woman said. “Are you my son’s rebound girlfriend then?”

“Jesus, Mom,” Steve groaned, “Lisa’s helping me to study.”

“Yeah, um, it’s not like that,” Lisa forced out. “We’re friends.”

“Oh, good, I hope you’ll have a less disappointing report card this semester, Steve,” Mrs Harrington said brightly, reaching up to pat Steve on the cheek.

“Now, I must be off if I’m going to avoid traffic,” she gave both Lisa and Steve air kisses on both cheeks before they could say another word and then waved at them over her shoulder as she picked up the formal outfits she came for from the laundry room, and then left the house without so much as a backwards glance.

The door closed behind her with a slam and Lisa and Steve stood in silence for a moment, and then Steve cleared his throat, “so that was my mom, if you’d forgotten meeting her before.”

“She’s so…” Lisa trailed off.

“Fake? Full of shit?” Steve said bitterly, “yeah that’s her.”

“I was going to say ‘polished’,” Lisa said, biting her lip. She looked up at Steve and his eyes were still on the front door, all the way down the hall.

She gave his arm a brief squeeze, “you okay?”

Steve nodded, “yeah, nothing I’m not used to.”

The look on his face stirred something in Lisa and she turned to him with a smile, “my shift at the arcade was switched to Saturday instead of tomorrow night, so I was thinking I could come over with the film I picked out?”

Steve’s face brightened, “I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”

Her grin widened, “not one bit, trust me.”

—

Steve let out a loud sigh as the opening credits for Footloose began to play, and Lisa gave him a pointed look as she pulled a throw up around her in her seat next to him on the couch.

“You loved the soundtrack,” she reminded him with raised eyebrows.

“Yeah but the actual plotline sounds like a waste of popcorn,” He said with a pointed look at the bowl in his hands.

She snatched the bowl from him, “alright, more for me then.”

He took the bowl back from her and held it over the arm of the couch out of her reach with an infuriating grin.

“Fine, then. You take the popcorn and I’ll have the wine,” she said, picking up the bottle they’d already opened but hadn’t yet poured into glasses.

He narrowed his eyes at her, “wine my parents bought.”

“You say that like either of us should care,” she retorted, and he snorted a laugh.

“Fact. But I’m still not sold on the movie.”

Lisa picked up the remote control and pressed play on the movie, “it’s a great movie, with a great soundtrack, as you know. And it was my turn to pick the movie so shut up and watch it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Steve muttered, slumping down onto the couch beside her as she pressed play, and took a handful of popcorn, shoving it into his mouth with no grace whatsoever.

They wordlessly swapped the popcorn and the wine within the first ten minutes, and by the end of the movie they were far from sober.

“Almost paradise!” They both screamed along with the song into their imaginary microphones, gasping out in laughs whenever they made eye contact.

“We’re knocking on heaven’s door!” Lisa stood up on the couch and Steve followed suit.

“Almost paradise! How could we ask for more?”

Steve sang passionately into the remote control while Lise wielded a telephone upside-down, both of them singing as though dueting on a stage.

“I swear that I can see forever in your eyes, paradise.”

Lisa looked up and met Steve’s eye, then she pushed him away by his face with a laugh, and he hopped off the couch and threw his head back in a drunken cackle.

They continued shouting along with the song until the end of the scene, and then they sat quietly watching the rest of the movie while passing the second wine bottle between them.

“It’s good,” Steve said, nodding towards the screen as the end credits rolled.

“Told you,” Lisa answered, grinning at him. “Now let’s finish this wine before my mom gets here to bring me home.”

—

They agreed to rewatch one of Steve’s favourites, Risky Business, a couple of weeks later, which Lisa figured would shut Steve up since she’d dragged him to watch a new film called The Breakfast Club the weekend prior.

She knew he’d secretly enjoyed it, but it didn’t stop his complaining at the stereotypes even though she got him to admit that he’d still been engrossed until the end credits.

“Now, here’s an idea,” Steve said, opening the drinks cabinet in his living room that Friday night and pulling out two large bottles of wine. “One each, to celebrate Spring Break. What do you think?”

“How bold,” she said, but she grinned and shoved her schoolbooks back into her backpack.

“You can crash here, if you like. I’ll take the couch,” Steve offered with a shrug. “You can drive home in the morning then.”

Lisa considered it for a moment before nodding in agreement, “okay, I’ll just call my Mom and let her know. Well, see if she lets me, that is.”

Steve snorted and nodded, pouring two glasses of wine and pulling the microwave popcorn out of the kitchen cabinet.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Mom, it’s me.”

“Oh, hi honey, everything okay? Are you still at Steve’s?”

“Yeah I’m still here, and, um, I’ll be staying over, if that’s okay,” she said slowly. “We’re gonna do a movie marathon to celebrate Spring Break and he’s gonna sleep on the couch.”

There was a long silence, and Lisa held her breath and glanced at Steve who raised his brows in question, which Lisa responded to with a shrug.

“Okay, sweetie.”

Lisa paused, “Mom, did you hear what I said? I said I’m staying at Steve’s.”

“Yes, I heard you, I’m just glad you’re socialising more, and not spending your weekends and breaks studying! And Steve is a nice boy, and you know it wouldn’t be the strangest thing if you two-”

“Great, Mom,” Lisa interrupted. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Her mother chuckled down the phone, “okay, honey. Have fun, with your movies! Oh, and tell Steve he’s always welcome to come over for dinner. Dustin would love to see more of him.”

Lisa pinched the bridge of her nose, “okay, I’ll keep that in mind. Goodnight, Mom.”

“Goodnight, sweetie, be safe!”

Lisa hung up the phone as quickly as she could, and she walked towards the kitchen to find Steve pouring a bag of microwave popcorn into a large bowl.

He looked up when he heard her footsteps, and he smiled brightly when he saw her, “hey, Lise. Everything okay with your mom?”

“Yeah, she was surprisingly okay with me staying here,” she said with a smile.

Steve’s mouth fell open, “I thought you were going to tell her you were staying with Nancy or Tina or something.”

Lisa shrugged, “I don’t like lying. And she was fine with it.”

Steve smirked, “that’s because she thinks I’m awesome.”

Lisa rolled her eyes, “okay, smartass. Let’s get this film started, shall we?

They both drank their wine far too quickly.

As they watched the movie, Steve decided to get up and use his bottle as a microphone while imitating the dance Tom Cruise was doing on screen to Bob Seger’s ‘Old Time Rock and Roll’.

Lisa had tears streaming down her alcohol-flushed cheeks as he did it, his hips and head copying everything the character on screen was doing, showing how many times he’d seen it.

“Lucky for you, unlike our friend Tom, I’m wearing pants,” Steve said before spinning in his socks on the hardwood floor.

Lisa clapped a hand over her mouth as he hopped up onto the enormous oak coffee table, playing an imaginary guitar with the coal shovel from the fireplace, and then slid across the wooden floor on his knees.

He propped the collar of the polo shirt he was wearing under his sweater up, and spun on the floor to face her with a grin, and Lisa stood up on the couch to give him a standing ovation, applauding his efforts.

He laughed along with her and then flopped down on the couch next to her, jabbing her in the side as though her abdomen wasn’t already sore from laughing so hard.

She swatted at him and scooped up the bottle of wine as the movie continued, and they were in a fit of giggles about something completely unrelated as the credits rolled.

“Okay, Grease next, just don’t steal my popcorn like you did in the movie theatre like six-and-a-half years ago,” Lisa said, tripping slightly as she got off the couch, sending Steve into a fresh fit of laughter.

“‘Like six-and-a-half years ago’- Lise, it was my popcorn,” he said defensively, still laughing.

“Oh shut it, Tom Cruise,” she teased, and she changed the tapes over.

“Yeah, you’d like that,” he joked.

“Maybe I would like that!” she retorted and turned back to the TV set.

Steve snapped his mouth shut, watching her attentively as she reached up to pull the VHS from the shelf and put it into the player.

After another bottle of wine was downed between them, neither of them hesitated to attempt a duet of ‘You’re the One That I Want’ with Lisa passionately using the TV remote as a microphone, while Steve once again used the wine bottle.

They were both very inebriated and high on laughter, taking turns in spinning each other around along with the songs, and when Steve tried to imitate the dance and get down on his knees, he fell right over onto the rug, knocking the back of Lisa’s legs so that she fell down as well with a shriek.

She rolled over until they were lying side by side on the expensive rug.

They were panting from the exertion of their terrible dancing and singing, and Steve turned his head to grin deliriously at Lisa, “tonight has been the most fun I’ve had in years.”

She turned to look back at him, “me too.”

He held her gaze, and allowed his gaze to flick down to her mouth for a split second.

Steve was an eighteen-year-old young man, and while it was probably a mix of the alcohol and the fact that he was so giddy and happy at that moment, he wanted nothing more than to lean in and close the space between them.

But he didn’t, he just smiled at her, “Lise, I think you’re my best friend.”

She smiled warmly at him, oblivious to his inner battle, and rolled over on the rug to wrap her arm across his chest, her head tucked under his chin, “and I think you’re mine.”

They stayed like that for a while, both of them almost falling asleep right there on the floor, and then Steve nudged Lisa, rousing himself in the process, “hey, let’s get you to bed.”

She nodded sleepily, “yeah, only if you carry me.”

He gave her a disbelieving look, and then wobbled to his feet, making her laugh loudly.

“Maybe don’t carry me,” she said, taking his outstretched hands as he pulled her to her feet.

He led her upstairs, both of them giggling as they had to basically crawl up the carpeted stairs, taking breaks to just sit and try to control their laughter.

Once in the bedroom, Lisa felt herself sobering slightly, as she became more aware of where she was, and then something hit her, “shit, I don’t have PJs.”

Steve’s eyebrows shot up, but he turned to his dresser and pulled out an old Star Wars t-shirt and plaid bottoms. Lisa looked at the t-shirt and gave him a gleeful grin, “Star Wars?”

Steve glared and pointed a finger at her, “it's an old shirt. Tell Dustin and you’re dead.”

Lisa just laughed and Steve left the room so she could change, going into the bathroom to change his own clothes and making a detour downstairs.

He came back upstairs with a glass of water and a pack of aspirin which he put on the bedside table. He noted with a smirk how long the pyjamas bottoms were on her, and she glared at him and rolled them up at the waist so they didn’t pool at her feet.

She took a sip of water and sat on the bed and crossed her legs, and he frowned when he saw her face falling slightly.

He sat down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder, “hey, you okay?”

She sighed shakily, and began to tug anxiously at the scrunchie on her wrist, “yeah, I- I just I have a bit of a routine before I sleep. Check the doors, check the windows, check that there's some sort of weapon in reach. It’s weird being away from my own room. It was hard when I was at my dad’s for New Years.”

Steve’s eyebrows pinched together in concern, “is it like that every night when you’re home?”

She shook her head, “no, not every night. But if I’m feeling stressed or, like, worrying that things are starting to get weird out there again, I check everything before I can go to sleep. I’m considering getting myself a goddamn nightlight.”

Steve nodded, not an ounce of judgement in his expression, “I get like that, too. I sometimes sleep with the lamp on. I can bring another lamp in if you want?”

She bit her lip, shaking her head, “could you- I mean, um, maybe- shit, nevermind.”

As though he could read her thoughts, he spoke quietly, “want me to stay until you fall asleep?”

She swallowed heavily and nodded, “if it’s too weird you don’t have to, honestly.”

“It’s not weird, Lise,” he told her and she smiled sheepishly as she snuggled down into his pillows and let him pull the comforter up around her.

“Goodnight, Steve,” she said, smiling at him as she drifted off.

He tucked the comforter around her as he smiled to himself, “goodnight, Lisa.”

And then he wobbled down the stairs to sleep on the couch with a smile still on his face.

Chapter Text

There was a new and different ease between Lisa and Steve after that night at the Harrington house.

There were more movie nights, of course, either at their beloved movie theatre until it closed in March or in their respective houses. They even saw each other when Dustin insisted on showing Steve his favourite games at the arcades, when he figured he could emotionally blackmail his sister into giving them some free tokens.

They visibly relaxed under each other’s casual touches, whether it was friendly hugs or a hand on a shoulder, or a comforting squeeze of an arm or hand, and they could even have an entire conversation through mere glances or facial expressions.

Nancy, perceptive as ever, was the first to notice how things had changed between them.

She and Jonathan sat with Lisa and Steve in the cafeteria during their last few months of school before summer break, and before Steve had his finals.

She observed them across the table, as Steve watched Lisa as she spoke.

She was talking him through the revision timetable she’d made for him, to try and make his final tests as un-daunting as possible, even though the difference between getting a good or bad grade would determine whether or not his overall GPA could improve just a little bit more.

Steve wasn’t even looking at his notebook, but was hanging onto every word and piece of advice Lisa gave him, nodding along as she rationalised each colour-coded block.

“Uh oh,” he said abruptly but quietly, and he reached across to put a stray brown curl back into her pin over her ear, even though her curly fly-aways were multiplying as the day went on.

She snorted, barely reacting aside from reaching up to hold the end of her thick, frizzy braid that she’d pulled over to fidget with.

“Don’t even get me started on this humidity,” she said, tossing her messy braid back over her shoulder. “Anyway…”

Jonathan blinked at them in surprise from across the table as Lisa continued to explain the timetable, both of them casually moving on from that uncharacteristically familiar exchange. He raised a brow at Nancy in question who hid her smile behind her hand, but she took his hand under the table and held it on her lap with a gentle squeeze.

When Lisa wrapped up her mini-lecture, Steve let out a sigh and gave her a dramatic salute, “thank you, O kind saviour, for making this schedule that I will probably not use.”

Lisa laughed but gave him a meaningful look, “you’re going to use it, Harrington.”

“Yeah, I’ll try,” he mumbled in resignation.

“That’s the spirit,” she reached over to playfully mess up his hair, and he was visibly only pretending to be annoyed at her.

Nancy shared a private smile with Jonathan then, which he returned knowingly, since it became apparent at that moment that Lisa Henderson was the only person allowed to touch that hair.

“You will stick with it, and it’ll pay off because you’ve worked hard,” Lisa said brightly.

Steve just shrugged but gave her a look of challenge, and snatched a french fry from her plate and put it into his mouth with a grin on his face, and then reached for a second one, which earned him a swat on his hand.

Lisa glared at him, “hey! Just because you’ve finished your own goddamn fries-”

“You know,” Nancy said casually, fighting a smile as she interrupted their lighthearted bickering, “it’s kinda funny that just over a year and a half ago, you two were at each other’s throats for real.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Steve said with a loud sigh, “Henderson was absolutely intolerable.”

Lisa gave him an indignant look, “excuse me, I was intolerable? You were a huge douchebag.”

Steve bumped his shoulder against hers playfully, “only because you were absolutely intolerable, so shut it.”

She grinned at him, “you shut it.”

Nancy couldn’t help but laugh as she looked between them, and she gave her now-boyfriend’s hand another squeeze, and Jonathan squeezed hers back and gave her a fond smile. She was glad that she could hang out with her favourite people at school again, without the awkwardness of before.

Steve had actually been the one to initiate their tentative friendship, asking if she and Jonathan wanted to meet for lunch back at the start of March, and the transition had been surprisingly easy.

Nancy had a sneaking suspicion that Lisa’s close friendship with both her and Steve, and of course Jonathan, had been a significant factor in mending bridges between them all.

—

Lisa scowled at herself later that week as she realised that she’d picked up the wrong biology experiment notepad and hurried back to her locker to get the new one she’d bought to replace it with the one she’d filled up in the previous lab.

She yanked the new experiment notepad out of the locker, eager to get to biology class before she was late, but after slamming her locker shut and turning on her heel far too quickly without looking, she bumped into someone and dropped it to the floor like a total cliché.

“Shit-”

“Oh, Lisa. Hey,” a familiar voice said in a tone of surprise.

She blinked at Billy Hargrove as he bent over to pick up the notebook she’d dropped, and she slowly took it from him as he reached out and handed it to her without getting closer.

“Thank you,” she breathed.

He nodded, giving her a rueful nod, but said nothing else as he went on his way and she stared at the floor in front of her until the class bell rang and she hurried to class, swearing colourfully under her breath.

She sat down at the biology bench next to Nancy while Tina gave her a concerned look from across the table, Carol ignoring her completely which was fortunate.

“You okay, Lise?” Nancy asked.

Tina leaned in with a frown, “yeah, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Probably just her pasty face in the mirror,” Carol muttered. “Try some blush or something, jeez.”

“You say that like you see any sunshine, considering you spend your days with your head up your own ass,” Lisa snapped.

Tina smacked a hand over her mouth with a laugh of delighted disbelief, and Nancy almost fell off her stool in an attempt to stifle her own laughter.

“Ignoring Carol, who must be having a bad day, are you okay?” Tina asked after a minute of giggles, pointedly angling herself from Carol who flipped her off.

“I just bumped into Billy, that’s all,” Lisa whispered back as their teacher came into the room.

Tina frowned but nodded sadly, thinking that she was only upset due to their breakup.

Nancy, who knew better, took her hand under the table, “are you alright?”

Lisa nodded, giving her hand a squeeze, “yeah, we didn’t talk. I just haven’t spoken to him since that night.”

Nancy gave her a sad look but nodded, tightening her fingers around Lisa’s once more before turning to face their teacher as he called for the class’s attention.

—

“You’re supposed to put the car in park before you open the door,” Lisa pointed out as Steve’s car rolled forward slightly in his driveway.

“‘You’re supposed to-” you know what, shut up,” Steve scowled, but his mouth pulled up at the edges in his attempt to hide his smile, realising that he’d once again fallen for her attempts to rile him up.

She snickered as she shouldered her backpack and shut the car door, half-dreading the homework she had facing her that evening, though she tried to remind herself that it was almost the end of term.

Steve unlocked the front door and picked up the pile of mail from the floor on the carpet, flicking through them boredly as they walked into the kitchen, until he stopped so quickly that Lisa nearly walked into his back.

“Well, shit,” he said. “Shit, shit. Shit.”

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Lisa asked him, frowning when she saw his expression.

“Well, there’s an envelope here with my parents’ names on it with the high school crest on it,” he answered, holding it up. “Lisa, this is my goddamn final report card. This will tell me if I’m going to graduate or not.”

Lisa’s mouth fell open in shock, her own nerves were skyrocketing and she couldn’t even begin to imagine what Steve’s were like even though he wasn’t attending college this year.

She knew he was going to graduate, she knew it, but she was so nervous for him that she was knocked speechless.

“What do I do? Do I open it?” he asked, eyes wide.

“I don’t know! Isn’t it sort of illegal to open someone else’s mail?” she answered, her own voice slightly higher in pitch than usual.

“It is, isn’t it?” Steve nodded, and he walked past her to the kitchen island. “But when’s that stopped us from doing shit before? And what’s the big deal? I don’t have to open it right now, because there’s nothing to stress about really. If I don’t graduate this year, at least you’re there, right? So it won’t be totally hellish, because at least I have you.”

She could sense his panic, the pitch of his voice growing higher and his breathing coming quicker than normal.

She dumped her bag on the floor and took him by the shoulders, “you’ve got me, no matter what happens, okay? But we both know you don’t want to spend another minute more as a high school student unless you have to. You worked your ass off this year, Steve.”

“I did, didn’t I?” he said, eyeing the envelope in his hands, tapping it with one hand against the palm of the other.

“You did,” she answered. “I’ll go into another room, if you want?”

“No,” Steve said, shaking his head. “No, I want you here for this.”

She didn’t say anything else, and neither did he, and then he slid his thumb under the seal of the envelope.

The only sound in the room was the tearing of paper as Steve tore open the envelope with more impatience, suddenly not caring if he ripped the external paper or not.

He tore the report card out, still standing there in the middle of his kitchen, and Lisa watched him as his eyes travelled across the paper.

Lisa’s heart rate picked up, knowing that the result on the inside would not change things, not majorly.

The selfish part of her would be grateful to know that he’d be there with her in school, that they’d finish their senior year together next summer. But the other part of her knew that he wouldn’t be happy to spend another year in school.

Lisa shut off her thoughts and just watched him, committing to supporting him regardless of the outcome.

He read and reread the report card, and she grew agitated as his eyebrows raised higher and higher and he still hadn’t said a word, uncharacteristically silent.

Finally, he looked up at her and met her gaze, his eyes wide with disbelief.

“I did it. I’m graduating.”

Her mouth fell open, and they stared at each other.

“You’re graduating.”

“I’m graduating,” he said, his eyes flicking back down to his final high school report card, still looking as though he was waiting for a realisation that he’d misread.

“Check it? Just, y’know, to make sure,” he said abruptly, holding the sheet of paper out towards her.

She wordlessly took it, eyes scanning over the subjects and their corresponding grades, all of them adding up to the exact final GPA she’d written down for herself as an aim when she’d started tutoring him.

He’d done it.

Her eyes shot up to his and her face split into a grin, “you did it.”

“I did?” his own face changed into a hesitant grin.

She flung her arms around his neck in a hug, “you did it!”

He laughed, delighted, his arms wrapping around her back as he turned on his feet, spinning them around on the spot as they both laughed and exclaimed in complete joy and relief, and excitement.

He set her back down on her feet but didn’t break the hug, his face pressed down into her shoulder, “thank you, Lisa.”

She rested her chin up on her shoulder, tears escaping the corner of her eyes as she blinked up at the kitchen’s ceiling lights.

“I’m so glad for you,” she said, croakily.

He pulled back suddenly, brows drawing together as he looked at her and noticed her tears, “don’t be sad, Lise. We’ll still hang out, I promise.”

She shook her head and smiled at him, “I’m not sad! I’m so goddamn happy for you! You didn’t believe in yourself, but you’ve proven yourself and everyone who doubted you wrong.”

His hands found her shoulders, both of them resting where her neck met her shoulders, brushing her long brown curls aside.

“We proved me wrong.”

“That is so grammatically incorrect,” she whispered tearfully and he snorted and wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb.

“Honestly, I’m graduating now, so I don’t give a fuck,” he told her cheerfully.

She laughed and reached up to ruffle his hair, “look at you, graduate.”

They smiled at each other, and hugged again, and Steve was happier than he’d ever been.

He was graduating high school, with a decent GPA. He hadn’t applied to any colleges this year but he could in the future, if he wanted to.

And Lisa was here, cheering him on.

He couldn’t be happier.

—

On the last day of Lisa’s junior year, a few weeks later, she pulled the last of her books out of her locker and shoved them into the spare tote bag she’d brought with her to empty her extra notepads and stationary into.

Steve came up behind her and put his hands over her eyes, “guess who.”

“Let me guess, the asshole who’s abandoning me to graduate?”

She turned around as he took his hands away and Steve rolled his eyes and leaned against the row of lockers next to hers, “you act like I’m doing it on purpose. It’s your own fault for tutoring me so I could get better grades. Besides, you still have Nancy and Jonathan.”

Lisa gave him a withering look, “yeah, great, third wheeling with Nancy Wheeler. And Nancy has accepted the role of president of the school paper, so I’ll see less of her. And Jonathan is focusing more on his photography.”

“You should get a hobby.”

“You should get a hobby.”

Steve rolled his eyes, “rejoin theatre club.”

Lisa gave him an incredulous look, “for my senior year? Have you seen their productions and the amount of rehearsals that would take? I’ll be busy enough, thank you very much.”

“Fine then, make some new friends. Or, just drop out and we’ll join a circus together,” Steve suggested jokingly.

Lisa laughed, “I do have other friends. Tina’s great, and her cousin is moving to Hawkins with her parents from Indianapolis for senior year, and I’ve a friend from that one summer I did bandcamp that I could get to know better-”

“Wait, hold up,” Steve straightened up, “you went to bandcamp?”

“Yeah, the summer after we met, your parents whisked you away to the Caribbean for two weeks and Mom wanted me to have a talent, so I tried clarinet,” Lisa said, pulling out the last binder from her locker.

Steve looked amazed, “and? Are you able to play?”

“No, not at all, I was terrible,” Lisa said.

“Okay, then, so about that circus idea…” Steve said with a laugh as they walked down the corridor together, for the last time as fellow students.

—

At the end of May, Lisa, Dustin, Nancy and Jonathan cheered as Steve’s name was called at graduation and he went to accept his high school diploma.

His parents were there and posed for some pictures, his mother giving him air kisses and his father giving him a stiff pat on the shoulder and a nod of reluctant congratulations.

As the Harringtons exited the seating area, Steve speedwalked ahead of his parents as he’d heard and seen Lisa and their friends screaming his name when he crossed the stage.

She flung her arms around his neck, almost knocking his graduation cap right off his head, and he hugged her tightly.

“”I’ll try to make it-” You’re sneaky as hell, you know that, Henderson?” he said, shaking his head fondly at her.

“You did it, Harrington,” she answered, mirroring his grin.

He turned to the others to greet them, but before he could say a word to them, Dustin shouted, “do it, now!”

He, Lucas, Mike, Max, Will and Eleven held a sign each with a letter that together spelled ‘STEVE!’ while Nancy and Jonathan had poppers that they set off right in front of the makeshift banner with grins on their faces.

He gaped in complete shock as they revealed the letters, and Dustin grinned, “sorry, the store was out of signs for ‘E’ so we had to use a Sharpie on a sign saying ‘F’ for the second ‘E’, oh! And we had to turn an ‘i’ upside-down for the exclamation mark!”

Steve blinked, his eyes shining in complete bewilderment, and he looked down at Lisa and then back to the kids. “You guys did all this…for me?”

Lisa shrugged a shoulder, but felt the lump in her throat at the sight of his complete, albeit surprised, joy, “well, we’re proud of you.”

“It’s not everyday your babysitter graduates,” Max said with a grin and Lucas gave him a congratulatory thumbs up.

Steve grinned and then stuck his graduation cap down onto Lisa’s head, “well, I’m just glad I graduated. And it’s all thanks to you, Lise.”

“No way, I helped a bit, but you grew that brain yourself,” she pushed his shoulder playfully.

“Allegedly,” Dustin butted in hugging Steve.

Steve snorted and yanked Dustin’s baseball hat down over his face after hugging the younger boy back fondly, “thanks for your support, asshole”

But he grinned as the rest of their excitable friend group descended onto Steve with hugs and claps on the back to congratulate him on his achievement.

Ms Henderson had come along to support her children’s friend, and immediately whipped out her camera and insisted on an endless amount of photographs to commemorate the occasion.

—

Lisa went away at the very start of summer break to get training and first aid certified before the summer camp took in kids for a month and she was officially a camp counselor with real responsibilities.

She was away for a week, then she was back in Hawkins to celebrate her eighteenth birthday at the end of May before she and Dustin were being driven to Camp Knowhere where they’d be staying for the next four weeks.

She rotated her nightly permitted phone calls between her mom, Steve, Nancy and Jonathan, the latter of whom were usually together for a phone catch-up to update her on their new jobs at the Hawkins Post.

Whenever she phoned Steve, only half-jokingly he reminded her that she’d abandoned him to the life of an unhappy working man.

His dad had refused to employ him in his company, saying that his college-ineligible son needed to get out on his own and earn his own money and some real-life skills.

“I’m telling you, Lise, I’m regularly having to resist the urge to throw the ice cream scoop at a customer’s stupid head,” he told her one evening. “‘Real-life skills’, my dad said. As if I haven’t done that already, I’ve fought actual monster-things.”

“That’s not ‘real-life’ for most people, Steve,” she reminded him. “What about your colleagues, what are they like?”

“Oh, yeah, there’s this one girl and she gives me shit, sort of like you, but it makes the day a lot less boring,” he replied with a chuckle. “She’s great.”

Lisa felt something twist in her chest, and she refused to acknowledge it as jealousy, because she had no reason to be jealous. That was ridiculous.

“Hey, Lisa,” one of her fellow counselors ducked his head in apologetically. “Sorry, but one of your girls has, well, she began womanhood- could you-?”

Lisa nodded, “thanks, Mark. Tell her I’ll be there in just a minute, could you call her Mom as well?”

The attractive twenty-year-old man nodded, and gave her a radiant smile that often had all the female counselors blushing and giggling.

“Sorry, Steve, I’ve gotta go!”

“That’s okay-” Steve answered but she’d already hung up.

“Mark?” He repeated the name and pulled a face before putting the phone back in its cradle with a frown. “Mark. Stupid fucking name.”

—

Lisa hardly saw Dustin during their time at Camp Know-Where, since he was with those aged thirteen and over, and Lisa spent the majority of her time with the under-twelves.

The poor girl who’d started her period had been distraught and with their cabin being nearest the counselor’s cabin where Lisa had been on the phone, Mark had sought her help when some of the other young girls had run up to him after dinner.

“Thanks for your help,” he said gratefully, putting his cigarette out on the ashtray on the windowsill of the counselor’s cabin. “I just know my little sister only wanted our Mom when it happened to her.”

“It’s no problem really, I’m just glad she’s okay and we talked through everything with her mom,” she said with a smile, and then she bid him goodnight as she went to check on the kids in her designated cabin.

“Everyone in bed, girls?” she called in as the six eleven-year-olds snuggled into their respective bunk beds.

“Yes, Lisa!” they said between yawns.

“Remember, you get to phone your families tomorrow,” she said happily. “And tell them how much fun you’re having with all your experiments and activities!”

She closed the door behind her to keep out the night air as the girls giggled and chatted among themselves, and she crossed the small cabin and crouched down beside the bunk of a girl she’d been keeping a close eye on since earlier that evening.

She’d gotten the girl cleaned up and waited while she showered, and then brought her to phone her Mom in the camp leader’s office after the fact. The three of them had a long and educational phone conversation that made the girl feel happier about staying at summer camp, since she refused to miss out on the science project competition that would take place in the final week.

“How are you feeling, Jessie?”

Jessie rolled over, “I think being a girl is a bit scary.”

Lisa smiled and gave the girl’s hand a gentle pat, “it can be, Jessie. Especially at times like this, when you don’t understand what’s happening. You were so so brave! And in the morning, after breakfast, you can take some more pain meds if you need to, like we talked about with your mom.”

Jessie sniffled a bit but smiled, “I think I’m going to be even braver tomorrow. Because I want to crush the other team in the obstacle course.”

Lisa chuckled, “you will be braver, and maybe you will get the activity badge for tomorrow! But, if you get sore again, just come and find me. Even in the middle of the night.”

“Okay. “ Jessie nodded, smiling, “I’m excited for tomorrow.”

Lisa smiled at her and patted her hand, “we can call your mom tomorrow at lunchtime and tell her how you are, how about that?”

Jessie beamed, “yeah!”

Lisa stood up then, “alright, girls, lights out! Remember we’ve got the zoology quiz in the morning and then we’ve got the obstacle course in the afternoon, so sleep is important! You know where we are if you need anything at all.”

She stepped over to the door and turned out the overhead light, so only the low glow of the cabin’s nightlight lit the door, “goodnight, girls!”

“Goodnight, Lisa!” The girls chorused, and Lisa shut the door behind her and made her way next door to where the camp counselors slept, satisfied after a successful day of work.

—

Lisa grinned into the phone a few nights later as Steve ranted about Scoops, but told her about the other new shops that had opened in the Starcourt Mall that week, which had brought so many more people into Hawkins from the surrounding towns.

Lisa jumped as the door of the counselor’s cabin burst open and Dustin stormed in.

“Jesus Christ, Dustin,” Lisa glowered at him. “You’re not even supposed to be in here.”

“Arrest me, then,” Dustin retorted, before yanking open a drawer. “I’m just getting batteries. I knew it was your phone time.”

“Dickhead,” she muttered.

Dustin flipped her off and then eyed the phone in her hand, “is that Mom or Steve?”

“Steve.”

He grinned, “hey, Steve!”

“Dustin says ‘hello’,” she said into the receiver, and then she passed the same message back to Dustin from Steve.

“What’s he doing?” Steve said, audibly amused from over the phone..

“The teens got to pick a project at the start of the camp and they have until the end of the month to finish it and we have a science fair that the parents can come and see,” Lisa explained. “Fuck knows what he’s actually making though.”

Steve laughed down the phone, “so, when are you actually back in Hawkins?”

“In exactly a week,” she told him.

“Great,” Steve said sincerely. “Can’t wait.”

Lisa smiled to herself because while she was having a great time at camp, she couldn’t wait to get back to Hawkins either.

—

Steve practically jumped on the phone when it rang the following week, “Lisa?”

“No, this is Dustin,” Dustin answered. “Rude.”

“Oh- sorry, Lisa usually calls at this time.”

Every three-to-four days, he didn’t add.

“Yeah, well, she’s busy teaming up with Mark the Magnificent, so you might need to check in with her secretary,” Dustin answered dryly.

“What?” Steve sputtered.

“I’m kidding, Steve, she doesn’t have a secretary,” Dustin said with a yawn. “But she did save a kid from drowning the lake today, so that was cool.”

“What?” Steve repeated.

“Yeah, this idiot guy from the group older than me decided that swimming out of the group’s designated area was a great idea, to impress his friends, so Lisa and Mark had to go after him.”

Mark.

Steve was hyper-aware of this name he was hearing over and over.

“So, this Mark guy, he’s a counselor as well?” he asked as casually as he could manage.

Dustin snorted loudly over the phone, “yeah, the girl counselors are all, like, super obsessed with him. They say he looks like Rob Lowe or something.”

Steve ran a hand through his hair with unexplainable irritation, recalling a previous conversation involving Lisa having a crush on certain Hollywood actors, with Dustin having specifically mentioned Rob Lowe.

“Oh, really? I’m guessing he’s a total dick though, right?”

“Nah, not at all,” Dustin replied. “He’s actually really cool, a total science genius too, especially in biology! Shit- someone else needs the phone. See you in a few days, dude, I’ll come to Scoops when I’m home!”

Steve smiled, “see you in a few days, man.”

The call ended, and Steve sat there in silence for a moment before talking aloud to himself, “‘‘Mark’ this, ‘Mark’ that, fucking hell. And he’s a genius in biology especially? What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

Maybe Dustin did literally mean biology as a science, it being a science camp, but Steve couldn’t help but wonder…

He definitely could not wait for the following week, when both of the Hendersons were back home and could stop worshipping the ground this Mark guy walked on.

Chapter Text

“This is Gold Leader returning to base. Do you copy? Over.” Dustin repeated into his headset for the tenth time in the past thirty minutes.

“Give it up already!” Lisa groaned from the backseat.

Their Mom had just collected them from Camp Know-Where, and unfortunately for Lisa, Dustin had called shotgun the second the car had come into view.

“Shut up, Lisa!” Dustin snapped.

“You shut up! You’re the one making all the noise!”

Dustin ignored her and once again clicked the button on his radio, “I repeat: this is GODDAMN GOLD LEADER-”

“DUSTY!” Mrs Henderson protested.

“What!?” Dustin responded defensively.

“Relax for goodness sake!” Their mom tried to reason with him.

“I’m in range, they should be answering!”

“You’ve been away a whole month, honeybun. Maybe they just forgot,” Mrs Henderson said.

“Or they’re ignoring you,” Lisa muttered, popping some Skittles into her mouth. “I would.”

“You should ignore me then,” Dustin snapped. “This is Gold Leader-”

“Stop harassing your friends,” Lisa said. “They’re probably busy, you know, dating each other. Apart from Will, and you.”

Dustin turned in the front seat to glare at her, “excuse you, I have Suzie.”

“Oh yes, your pretend Mormon girlfriend.”

“You were there, Lisa! Suzie is real!” Dustin retorted loudly.

“I literally never met the girl,” Lisa shrugged. “You could be making her up for all I know.”

“Yeah, well, she’s real!” Dustin’s eyes narrowed at her and then he turned back around in the seat. “You’re just jealous cos I have someone, and you don’t.”

“That’s not very nice, Dusty!” Their mother said. “Lisa has loads of people! She and Steve-”

“Don’t drag him into this, he doesn’t deserve it,” Dustin interrupted.

“Steve and I are friends, Mom!” Lisa said at the same time.

There was a brief silence then and Dustin coughed loudly, “thank God. Otherwise you’d be his Nancy rebound.”

Lisa opened her mouth to respond but snapped it shut, not sure what to say in response to that.

Dustin was oblivious to how his words sunk into Lisa, and continued attempting to radio his friends.

After a few minutes, Ms Henderson looked in the mirror to see her daughter frowning as she stared out the car window.

“You both mentioned that older camp leader whenever we were on the phone,” she began gently. “Matt, was it?”

“Mark,” Lisa said, straightening up a bit to reengage herself in conversation.

“Is he handsome, sweetie?”

Lisa grinned, “so handsome.”

“Is he your boyfriend?”

Dustin snorted and Lisa took a breath to prevent herself from punching him in the side of the head, “no Mom, he’s not my boyfriend.”

“Well that’s a damn shame,” Dustin snarked.

“Your face is-”

“I’m making lasagne for dinner! How does that sound!?” Mrs Henderson exclaimed, trying to interrupt.

The kids fell silent.

“Sounds great, Mom.”

“Yeah thanks Mom.”

—

Their Mom dropped them off at the house to start unpacking, and then she headed to the store to get fresh groceries for dinner.

Dustin went straight to his room and slammed the door behind him, and Lisa went to her own room to unpack and throw a bunch of clothes into the laundry hamper.

She was trying to decide if going to Scoops Ahoy to see Steve as soon as she got back was too obvious, especially since it was a weekend and he was likely super busy.

Busy with the female colleague he kept talking about, said a small voice in her mind. And then she thought back to what Dustin had said about Steve rebounding from Nancy.

There was a knock on her door and she opened it to find a tearful Dustin standing on the other side.

“Hey,” he sniffled.

“Hey,” Lisa answered, surprised.

“Sorry for being a total piece of shit to you on the way home. I’m sad about saying goodbye to Suzie and annoyed at the Party for ignoring me,” he said in a mumbled rush, but Lisa got the idea.

She patted him on the shoulder, “give it time. Your friends will reach out.”

“How do you know?” he asked her, wiping his face.

She gave him a half smile and a shrug, “gut instinct. Go and unpack, someone will radio you, I’m sure of it.”

He nodded, “okay.”

She waited until his bedroom door clicked closed, and checked her watch. Smiling to herself, she made her way to the back door.

“Right on time,” she said in a whisper as five smiling faces greeted her on the other side.

“He’s probably so bummed out,” Will said, and Mike shrugged as he pulled Eleven along with him.

“He is, make it up to him,” Lisa said quietly to them, and Lucas and Max nodded excitedly.

“He’s in his room, there’s a bunch of toys- er, action figures in there if that helps at all?” she murmured to Eleven.

El smiled and nodded, “I have a plan.”

She gestured to the dividing wall between the kitchen and the hallway, and when they hid, she hurried back to her own room but left the door slightly ajar so she could hear what was going on.

—

“Lisa! Something weird is happening!”

She opened her bedroom door less than five minutes later to see Dustin standing in the hallway outside their rooms, and he slowly pointed to his robotic toys that were making their way out of his bedroom and making noise, seemingly all by themselves.

Lisa hid a smile, as she followed Dustin and the toys down the hall and to the living room, and she walked into the kitchen where the rest of the kids were hiding.

She met Eleven’s eye once Dustin reached the threshold of the living room, and nodded subtly to the girl.

She immediately stopped controlling the toys, and Dustin gave Lisa a wide-eyed look, mumbling something about poltergeists, and then he turned around to inspect the now-stationary toys.

While he was distracted, the others hurried out with a banner, and then yelled at the top of their voices, “SURPRISE!”

Inspired by Steve’s graduation banner over a month ago, Lucas had called Lisa at Camp Know-Where, under the guise of being a very sick great-aunt, and was so surprisingly convincing that Lisa was allowed to take a call outside of designated hours. He and Max had devised this plan with the others and wanted her help pulling it off.

The surprise was successful, so effective in fact that Dustin ended up spraying Lucas directly in the eyes with hairspray, so shocked by the appearance of his friends.

While Max rushed Lucas to the sink to wash his eyes out, Lisa passed them on the way out of the kitchen and high-fived Will, Mike and El who were laughing hysterically.

Dustin looked at her, “you knew about this?”

“Who do you think let them into the house and told them where to hide?” she said and he gaped at her.

“But you said they were ignoring me!”

“Uh, yeah, I had to throw you off the scent,” she told him. “Besides, it was your turn to be grumpy today apparently.”

He grinned and gave her a quick side-hug before dragging his friends to his room to show him his creations from summer camp.

“Dustin, I’m heading out! I'll see you later!” she called to him a while later, grabbing her bag from by the front door and he shouted back something intelligible in response.

She half-ran out the door, shouting goodbye to Max and Lucas in the kitchen, and then she was hopping into her car to drive to the brand new Starcourt Mall, unable to wait any longer for her own reunion.

—

At the till in Scoops Ahoy, Steve handed the pretty girl her change, the coins clattering everywhere, “oh, er, sorry about that- anyway, we should kind of like, you know, I don’t know, maybe hang out this weekend or, maybe next weekend or-”

“Yeah, I’m busy,” the girl said, laughing awkwardly.

“Oh, that’s cool. I’m- I’m working here next weekend, so…the, uh, following weekend’s better for me,” he said, mentally kicking himself.

He used to have a talent for flirting and now he was an awkward mess for some reason, his charm having completely evaporated.

“Um, no. I’m sorry. I can’t,” the girl said apologetically, but she held up the ice cream she had just bought, “thanks!”

Steve watched as she left with her friend and he sighed loudly, and then the shutters of the serving hatch behind the counter opened, and Steve was met with a familiar grimace of disappointment.

“And another one bites the dust,” Robin Buckley said, holding up the whiteboard she’d used to tally Steve’s personal failures.

“You are oh-for-six, Popeye,” she said, adding a sixth mark to the tally.

“Yeah, yeah, I can count,” Steve grumbled.

“You know that means you suck,” Robin told him.

“Yeah, I can read too!” He said in exasperation, gesturing to the ‘you suck’ column on Robin’s whiteboard.

“Since when?” Robin said sarcastically.

Steve groaned, “it’s this stupid hat. I’m telling you, it is totally blowing my best feature.”

“Yeah, company policy is a real drag,” Robin said disbelievingly, “and it’s definitely the hat covering your hair that’s killing your game, and not the fact that you’re pining for someone.”

Steve glared, “I am not pining.”

“Yes, you are, because you keep looking at the door of the store with a longing look-”

“To see if any customers are coming in!”

“-as if hoping someone in particular will walk in,” Robin continued as if he hadn’t spoken.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Robin,” Steve said with a scowl.

“It’s not Nancy Wheeler, is it? Because you told me you were over her-”

“God, it’s not Nancy, it’s-” Steve cut himself off and turned around, suddenly pretending to busy himself with tidying up the counter, dumping used scoops into a tub of hot water in the small sink.

Robin walked out of the background and stood next to him at the counter, crossing her arms, “so, there is someone! If it’s not Nancy then it must be someone else you’re in love with.”

Steve threw his hands up in frustration, “I am not ‘in love’ it’s just, like, teeny tiny haven’t-seen-you-in-a-while feelings.”

“Aha!” Robin prodded his chest with her index finger, “so you admit you have feelings for someone!”

“Not, it’s not, it’s just a silly little crush that will go away whenever she’s- oh my God!” Steve’s eyes travelled to the door of the shop and went wide, as if finally getting the result he wanted from his endless staring at the door.

Lisa walked into the ice cream parlour and a huge grin spread on her face when she saw him, Steve took off his hat and slowly walked around the counter, looking completely astonished.

She met him by the corner of the counter and he took her by the shoulders and stared at her with huge eyes, “you’re here. You’re back.”

She laughed and held his arms, “yes, I’m back!”

He let out a delighted laugh and immediately flung his arms around her in a tight hug and lifted her up, spinning her around right there at the end of the counter.

He put her down on her feet but didn’t take his arms from around her, “you said you weren’t back until tomorrow, you liar!”

“I sort of wanted to surprise you,” she said bashfully.

He shook his head in disbelief, and then he glanced over his shoulder, “Robin, I’m taking my lunch now.”

Lisa looked around him to look at his colleague, “Robin? I didn’t know you worked with Steve!”

Steve looked between them, “wait, what?”

Robin beamed at her and leaned her elbows on the counter, “Lisa? Wow, this human giraffe blocked you from view, I couldn't even see who you were!”

“You two know each other?” Steve asked them.

“How was camp? Or should I say glorified wilderness babysitting?” Robin grinned.

Lisa walked over to the counter, “it was actually great, thanks. Did you end up going to Florida with your parents?”

“Hello?” Steve exclaimed, looking between them.

Robin nodded but cringed, “yeah, I think it’s where people go to die.”

Lisa snorted and Steve began tapping on the service bell, “hello!! Anyone home?”

The two sets of glares he got at the same time almost made him wither away, “now that I have your attention, ladies, let’s go back to the fact that you two know each other?”

“Robin and I went to band camp together, I’d just finished sixth grade and she’d just finished fifth, remember I told you I went when you went on vacation?” Lisa reminded him.

“You never said it was Robin you were friends with!” Steve replied, still confused.

“Steve, you weren’t working with her at the time,” Lisa said, shaking her head fondly at him.

“Yeah, dingus, keep up,” Robin said, “now go take your lunch, I’m bored with your face.”

Steve rolled his eyes but then smiled down at Lisa and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leading her into the back room and shutting the door and the shutters of the service hatch behind them.

Then he grinned at her and she threw her arms around his middle. He hugged her tightly back, resting his chin on the top of her head.

“Jesus, I missed you,” he mumbled, and Lisa immediately felt her heartbeat quicken.

“I missed you too, Steve,” she answered. “But you can call me Lisa.”

Steve chuckled and pulled back, gesturing to the chairs and pulling up a chair for her.

“Honestly, I’m glad I’ve been so busy, or else I’d have lost it. And Robin’s been giving me so much shit, so that’s been enough to keep me occupied,” Steve said with a grin.

“Of course, you were talking about Robin!” Lisa said in realisation, thinking back to the odd jealousy she felt when he’d mentioned a female colleague he’d gotten friendly with.

“Yeah, I still can’t believe you two know each other,” Steve shook his head.

Lisa smiled, “only through bandcamp, and Barb.”

“Barb?”

“Yeah, they were childhood friends, I’d forgotten until I talked to Robin at the funeral,” Lisa explained.

Steve nodded, remembering why he’d thought Robin was familiar when they’d first met, having forgotten to ask Lisa who she’d been talking to at Barb’s funeral back in November.

Her smile faded slightly as Steve watched, and without a word he darted out of the staff room and through the door to the front of the shop.

Before Lisa could even fathom what was happening, he was coming back in with a bowl of ice cream, and setting it in front of her with a spoon.

“The Scoops’ Captain Steve’s spin on your favourite, cookies and cream, with a drizzle of butterscotch syrup,” he said proudly, his hands on his hips.

He watched as her smile returned and he knew he’d accomplished his mission.

“You’re my hero,” she said with a grateful look, taking up the spoon. “Where’s your spoon?”

He held up the spoon in his hand, “here, of course. But only for you, if I ate as much as I wanted to I wouldn’t be able to maintain this physique.”

He gestured to his body and she rolled her eyes, “you look great, just eat the damn ice cream.”

He sat down across from her again, sticking his spoon into the side of the bowl, “you try it first.”

“Yes, Captain,” she said, giving him a two-fingured salute.

Steve grinned, his eyes not leaving her face as she dug in and happily stuck the spoon into her mouth.

He watched in rapt fascination as her eyes closed, and he couldn’t make himself look away.

“Oh my God, Steve, that’s so good,” she said with a sigh of delight, sticking her spoon back into the bowl.

Steve immediately leapt to his feet, suddenly feeling very warm under his blue sailor uniform, and he crossed the room under the guise of checking for customers.

He wanted to slap himself, feeling heat prickle his skin.

“Steve, you okay?” She asked curiously.

Steve cleared his throat, not looking at her, “yup! Um, totally. Yeah.”

She raised her eyebrows at him, and then shrugged and went back to her mouthwatering ice cream.

Steve mentally shook himself. He knew he’d missed Lisa in the month she’d been away, and that their time apart had made his feelings toward her change slightly.

But this…

He straightened his uniform. This was ridiculous.

Putting a smile on his face he turned back around and sat down with her again, pushing all other thoughts out of his head, for everyone’s sakes.

—

A while later, Lisa hugged him goodbye with promises of seeing each other again as soon as she’d gotten the schedule for her new job. She told him that Dustin would probably come in to see him the following day, and then she was waving at him over her shoulder.

Steve grinned at her as she turned around once more to smile at him before leaving the shop.

“So, it’s Lisa, right?” Robin said casually.

“Yeah, duh, that’s Lisa,” Steve said, still watching the shop door. “We’d established that you two know each other, blah, blah, blah.”

“No,” Robin said, a smile in her voice. “The person you’ve been pining for since you started here. It’s Lisa.”

Steve’s head whipped around, “what?”

“You have a huge, heart-melting, crush on Lisa,” Robin said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“It’s not like that,” Steve said defensively.

“Dude,” Robin said with raised brows, “you said you have, and I quote, ‘teeny tiny haven’t-seen-you-in-a-while feelings’.”

“Robin-”

“You also said that it was just a ‘silly little crush that will go away’ presumably you meant when she came back and you saw her again,” Robin pointed out without taking a breath. “And has seeing her again made your ‘silly little crush’ slash ‘teeny-tiny-feelings’ go away?”

Steve gaped at her, speechless.

“I take that vacant expression as a big, fat, eat-your-words no,” Robin said, pleased with herself.

“It’s not…look, we just- like, no! Listen, okay- she and I, we-” Steve flailed his hands and grew completely flustered as he paced behind the counter.

“Are you having some kind of episode right now?” Robin asked, not looking away from him as she handed a spare spoon to a boy at the counter.

“Look, it’s complicated,” Steve told her.

“Try me,” Robin said in challenge.

“We were best friends in middle school, then I was a dickhead and we stopped talking, then I dated her best friend, and then Nancy and I broke up, and Lisa and I became best friends again, and now...well, yeah,” Steve said in one breath.

Robin blinked, “shit, dude, yeah that is complicated.”

“Exactly!” Steve said, flinging his sailor hat onto the floor in frustration.

“I mean, you could just talk to her about it?” Robin suggested. “what’s the worst that could happen?”

Steve looked at her, “when was the last time you told a guy you liked him and it went well?”

“Uhhh,” Robin said, resisting the urge to wrinkle her nose at the thought.

“Exactly my point,” Steve said. “You have no idea how it feels to have feelings that could cause your entire world to implode, and make everyone judge you, and potentially ruin your life.”

Robin bit her lip but said nothing.

Steve continued, “she could reject me, or hate me, or think I’m using her as a rebound for Nancy, and it could ruin our friendship! And that’s even assuming she’d hear me out.”

Robin let out a long-suffering sigh, “I think you might be overthinking it. She might feel the same.”

“Unlikely,” Steve scoffed.

Robin gave him an irritated look, “seriously, dingus? Why wouldn’t she? I mean you’re…you’ve got…some redeeming qualities.”

Steve glared, “oh wow, thanks, Robin. Awesome pep talk.”

And with that, the pair went back to scooping and bickering about everything else other than Lisa Henderson.

Chapter Text

The morning after, having briefly seen Dustin dragging his creation from camp in from the garage, Lisa hopped out of her Mom’s car in the parking lot of her new workplace.

She waved goodbye to her Mom, grateful she was able to give her a ride to work after her own piece of shit car decided to die that very morning.

The opening of the Starcourt Mall had resulted in a lot of closures in the town centre of Hawkins, and many local shop-owners had protested its opening, to no avail.

Even the arcade had closed, with a new one opening in the mall, just like the old movie theatre, which she’d visited with Steve countless times since they’d met, had been replaced by a new one in Starcourt.

Lisa took in a breath of the summer air and was immediately grateful that she’d no longer be working in a stuffy arcade full of screaming children.

Instead, she’d be working at a crowded swimming pool full of screaming children.

The large Hawkins Community Swimming Pool was just outside of the town, and was known for its queues before opening at eight-thirty in the mornings.

Lisa got there early, just before eight, already noting the full parking lot as she was waved through the staff door by the manager who talked her through the day-to-day running of the place.

There were always two lifeguards on duty during peak times, one at each end of the pool, while other staff monitored the front desk when the manager wasn’t there.

“I pride myself on being here at the desk most of the time,” the manager, Greg, said with a boastful smile as he led her through where the small amount of amenities were.

The man didn’t look like he ever saw a ray of sunshine, so Lisa didn’t doubt that he spent his days indoors.

“Storage room, this is where all the floaties and the CPR dummy is,” he gestured. “We do courses here at the start of summer if there’s enough public interest, but I know you got all that training done at Camp Nobody.”

“Camp Know Where, but yes,” Lisa said with a nod. “We had to do a week of first aid training before starting.”

Greg beamed again, his large mustache somehow moving slightly with the motion, “saves me the time and money it takes to train you!”

Lisa gave an awkward laugh, and Greg led her back around to the front desk.

He handed her a folded pile of her uniform, a simple red swimsuit, with a white and red short and T-shirt set for cooler days. He set a small, red first aid belt-bag and a whistle on a lanyard on top.

“The staff locker room is just here to my left, you’ve got plenty of time before we open,” Greg lit a cigarette and gave it a puff as he gestured to the door near the front desk.

She nodded and made her way to the door, “thanks, Greg.”

He tilted his cigarette up in acknowledgement, “any questions, just ask. The others will be happy to help. Lindsay is setting up outside now, and Billy can show you the ropes when he gets in.”

His last words hit her just as she pushed through the locker room door and she almost fell over her own feet in her rush to get out of sight.

“Nope, there’s no way,” she said aloud to herself in the empty locker room. “It’s someone else, it has to be.”

She quickly got undressed and changed into the red swimsuit, pulling the red and white shorts on as well, then turning to the mirror she decided to tackle her hair.

Her curls weren’t coping well with the humidity, so she pulled it all into a loose messy bun on the top of her head with her scrunchie, stray curls and her bangs framing her face.

She shoved her belongings into her designated locker, and then gave herself a once-over in the mirror before grabbing a towel, her whistle, and her sunglasses.

She slid her feet into her flip-flops and met her own gaze in the mirror, trying to calm her own breathing. She let out an agitated puff of air as she eyed the wild curls that refused to be tamed, and realised that they were the least of her problems today.

“If he’s working here…” she whispered to herself and then she shook her head, trying once again to gain perspective.

She’d spent the first month of summer basically doing this job, preventing an idiot teenager from drowning, and not to mention she’d been underground in a parallel dimension only seven months prior.

Potentially facing her volatile ex who had beaten Steve to a pulp in an altercation that had resulted in Lisa herself acquiring a concussion, was nothing to worry about, surely.

“Fuck this,” she said to herself, and then she turned on her heel and marched towards the door of the staff room.

She pushed the door open and walked face-first into a bare, tanned chest, and large warm hands bracketed her waist to steady her.

“We’ve got to stop running into each other like this,” Billy said, the surprise on his face quickly replaced by amusement.

Lisa stepped back out of his grip, and he leaned one shoulder on the wall next to her.

“I agree, we should stop running into each other,” Lisa said flatly.

His eyes travelled appreciatively down to her swimsuit and his gaze visibly heated as he looked back up and met her gaze, blue eyes dark in that way that had been so familiar to her before.

Before.

Lisa damned her own body for growing warm in response.

“Well, unless you’re playing dress-up as a sexy lifeguard and we’re actually working together this summer, we’ll have to find a way to get along,” he said, raising a brow in a mild smirk.

Lisa glared at him, “get along? Are you serious?”

Amusement left Billy’s face and he nodded, then stepped past her into the changing room and let the door close behind him, “alright, alright. Could you…hear me out for a minute?”

Lisa realised that he’d intentionally moved past her so as not to block her exit, he pulled open his designated locker and pulled out his first aid belt, sunglasses and whistle, replacing them with the shirt he’d clearly removed before going into the locker room to get ready for his shift.

Against her better judgement, Lisa nodded once, “fine, but make it quick. We’ve got jobs to do.”

“Trust me, Lindsay’s got us covered for a bit,” he answered, slinging the whistle around his neck and shoving his bag into the locker before closing it.

She folded her arms impatiently, angled slightly away from him and he looked at her over his shoulder and let out a sigh and sat down on the bench between the lockers.

He was quiet for a long moment, briefly putting his head in his hands and running his fingers through his dark blond curls, and Lisa tried to ignore how she had once done that.

“I’m sorry,” he said simply, looking up at her as he said it.

Lisa turned to face him fully, “what?”

“For everything that happened- everything I did. I’m sorry,” he said earnestly, his head bowed slightly as he looked up at her through his thick eyelashes.

Lisa narrowed her eyes slightly, “you almost look like you mean it.”

He leaned back against the wall behind the bench, “I do mean it. I saw you at the hospital after that night and I realised how badly I’d fucked up.”

“You didn’t realise how badly you’d fucked up when you nearly killed Steve?” she snapped.

His shoulders sagged, “afterwards, I did. But when you- the one person I really care about getting hurt because of my…because of me, that was the last straw.”

“You mean ‘cared’,” Lisa answered quietly. “You cared about me. Past tense.”

“No,” Billy shook his head, holding her gaze with no hint of amusement, “not past tense.”

Lisa met his gaze properly as silence stretched between them, and the raw expression on his face reminded her of the guy that she’d been with, in a way she’d never been with someone before and hadn’t been since.

The guy she’d cared about, had real feelings for.

“I’m not expecting you to ever forgive me, but I want you to know that I’m doing better because of you,” he said quietly. “I, um, I started seeing the school counsellor after Christmas. To try to deal with stuff, my Mom leaving and my…dad.”

Lisa blinked at him, in disbelief, “you did?”

He nodded, “don’t tell anyone. My dad would call me a pussy, or soft, or something else if he knew.”

“I won’t tell anyone,” she whispered, swallowing the sudden lump in her throat.

He slowly stood, approaching her, and Lisa leaned back against the wall behind her, inhaling sharply as the cold tiles touched her bare back.

He stopped about a foot from her, “I just wanted you to know. And I hope that we can be…well, we’ll see. Civil.”

“Civil,” Lisa repeated.

He gave a tight smile and then pulled open the door, “time to wrangle some jackass kids.”

And then he was gone, and Lisa was alone.

She let out a long breath and pressed a hand flat to her chest, her heart pounding.

Outside, Billy’s own heart was beating hard in his chest as he left her behind, but he straightened his back and relaxed his walk into his usual swagger, popping a cigarette between his lips and adopting his cool exterior, his untouchable armour.

—

A few hours into her shift, Lisa was standing on the edge of the pool after scolding a group of boys for diving and almost drowning each other.

“But-”

“No buts, if I see you diving again, nevermind right next to the very visible ‘no diving’ sign, and you’re out,” she warned.

The boys bowed their heads in shame and Lisa turned away, her gaze landing on Billy at his post near the deep end where the teenagers and adults were.

He met her eye and raised his brows in question, and she froze, but he nodded his head in the direction of the boys she’d just told off, and then raised his water bottle in what appeared to be a ‘cheers’ motion.

A sudden shriek of her name behind her made her turn around, thankfully away from Billy, and she grinned when she saw Tina shuffling in her flip-flops towards her, arms wide and another brunette girl close behind her.

Tina gave Lisa a hug, “I haven’t seen you in too long!”

Lisa hugged her back and pulled back with a smile, “it’s only been a few weeks! Besides, you were on vacation until, like, three days ago.”

Tina shrugged and then turned to the other girl who wore a bright smile, “yeah, not like we were in the Bahamas, we were in Georgia with old people. Anyway! Lisa, this is my cousin I’ve told you about, Heather.”

The girl next to Tina, Heather, gave Lisa an excited hug, “I’ve heard so much about you!”

“Likewise!” Lisa answered, “did you go on vacation too?”

Heather grinned at Tina then back at Lisa, “yeah, our grandparents moved down to a cute retirement village just outside of Atlanta with even cuter boys working on the golf courses.”

Tina swatted Heather, “uncle Tom will kill you if he heard you say that.”

Heather shrugged, “uncle Tom, wasn’t there.” She glanced at Lisa with a smirk, “my dad, Tom, is a total asshole. So thankfully it was just me and Mom on vacation.”

“A vacation in more ways than one, then?” Lisa asked with a smile and Heather snorted a laugh.

“You bet. My dad has lived here for a couple of years, he runs the Hawkins Post,” she explained, and Lisa nodded in recognition. “My parents were separated but unfortunately have gotten back together, so that’s why I’m doing senior year here.”

“Which works well for us, having you here,” Tina beamed, bumping her shoulder against her cousin’s.

“My friends, Nancy and Jonathan, are working at the Hawkins Post for the summer,” Lisa said to Heather.

The girl grimaced, “yikes, that sucks. My dad is an asshole but he’s nothing compared to that creeper Bruce.”

Lisa wrinkled her nose, “Nancy’s told me about him, using a few more choice words.”

The two girls laughed and Tina’s attention flicked to the red swimsuit that Lisa wore. “How’s your first day going? You’re looking totally hot.”

“Totally hot,” Heather beamed in agreement.

Lisa waved them away bashfully, “you’re making me blush.”

Tina’s eyes suddenly went wide as she looked over Lisa’s shoulder, “um, speaking of blushing…is that..?”

“Billy? Yep,” Lisa answered.

Tina wrinkled her nose and Heather followed her cousin’s gaze, “is that…the Billy?”

Tina nodded in answer, clearly having filled Heather in on Lisa’s relationship and subsequent breakup with the Hawkins then-newest badboy, and then gave Lisa a sympathetic look, “have you talked to him?”

“Yeah,” Lisa admitted, straightening her shoulders. “Small talk, really.”

Tina put a hand on her shoulder, “you’ve got this. You’re smart, funny, and gorgeous. And trust me, boys are always worse off after a break up.”

“It’s a scientific fact,” Heather agreed, though Lisa wasn’t quite sure about that.

“Besides…everyone saw how shit he looked in the months after you dumped him, so I think he should be the nervous one,” Tina said, flinging her towel over her shoulder.

Lisa smiled at her friend’s support and Heather gave her hand a squeeze of encouragement.

“We’re here for the day, so we’ve got your back,” Heather said. “Us girls need to stick together.”

Tina bounced a bit on her toes, “yay, I knew you two would be friends!”

Lisa and Heather shared a smile, and then Lisa straightened up, “thanks girls. I’d better get back to my post. Enjoy your day!”

The rest of the day passed without incident, and without any more conversation with Billy.

—

Steve sat in the parking lot outside the pool that evening after his shift ended, and was beyond happy that Lisa had called him at work that afternoon asking him to pick her up from the pool.

He’d spend the rest of the day counting down the hours, much to Robin’s amusement.

It was still bright despite the time, the warm summer night air filling his car as he sat with the windows down, waiting for Lisa.

He heard gravel crunching under shoes, and turned with the expectation of seeing Lisa, but nearly jumped when he realised that it was Billy Hargrove, of all people.

Steve had half a mind to shrink down in his seat so that he wouldn’t see him, but then he realised that Billy was walking directly towards him.

“Harrington.”

“Hargrove,” Steve replied as calmly as he could, though his hand was on the window lever, as if he could roll it up fast enough to save himself from Billy if the occasion called for it.

Billy loosened his jaw and let out a long breath before briefly looking over his shoulder and then turning back to Steve, “I wanted to…I nearly killed you that night and there’s no excuse. But I’m sorry.”

Steve barely had time to register what had just happened when Billy walked away without another word.

He blinked slowly, wondering if he’d just imagined the interaction, and he sat in a stunned silence for another couple of minutes and jumped as the passenger door opened.

Lisa recoiled in shock at his reaction, and then swore as she sat into the car, giving him a wary look, “jeez, you okay?”

“Billy fucking Hargrove just apologised to me,” Steve said.

Lisa didn’t seem surprised, and she deflated slightly, “yeah, same here.”

Steve frowned, “you were talking to him?”

“Turns out, he also works as a lifeguard at the pool,” Lisa said with a groan, sliding down in the seat.

Steve blinked at her, “you’re working with him?”

She gave him a look, “we can’t all be blessed with coworkers like Robin.”

Steve wasn’t sure what she meant by that, and he wondered if she thought there was something going on between him and Robin.

But was he kidding himself by thinking she would be bothered by that? But maybe he should assure her that he was not in fact interested in dating anyone.

“Fair,” he said instead.

He started the engine, wondering if it would be possible for him to accidentally run over Billy in the parking lot without any repercussions.

“So, um, how was it?”

“Work, or seeing Billy?”

“Both, I guess.”

Lisa shrugged, fastening her seatbelt, “work was fun, aside from some kids being idiots. I saw Tina too, which was nice. And Billy…well, he seemed different. Less like a taut wire about to snap.”

“How profound,” Steve answered flatly.

“We stayed out of each other’s way and just worked, didn’t talk much apart from in the morning,” she said, looking out the window.

Steve nodded, but was clenching his jaw. Billy had quit basketball after Christmas, and they didn’t share any classes so he’d almost forgotten the guy existed until now.

“Would you get back with him?” he asked before he could stop himself.

Lisa gave him a bewildered look, “what? no way. Not after what he did. And with everything else he said…Even though he actually apologised, and seemed genuine, it’s too…I- no. No.”

Steve didn’t miss her flustered answer, “alright.”

She didn’t say anything else, and they left the conversations about Billy behind in the swimming pool parking lot.

“Dustin didn’t show up today, the asshole,” Steve said lightheartedly a few moments later as they travelled down the main road through Hawkins. “He clearly didn’t miss me that much.”

Lisa smiled, “when I left this morning, he was gathering up the pieces of this huge radio thingy he made at camp. He was probably going to show the others how it worked, so you’ll probably see him tomorrow.”

“You said that yesterday,” Steve frowned.

“Why, did you miss him more than me?” Lisa teased.

Steve snorted, “there may be two Hendersons, but there’s only one you, Lise.”

She smiled sidelong at him as he drove her all the way home, cheeks warming and heartbeat quickening slightly at his words.