"After you, madame," James bowed as he held the salon door open for One.

"Thank you, m'lord," One curtsied and entered.

After a taking a good look at each other one day the two agreed that they needed hair cuts. James' curls hung past his eyes and One's long hair continuously got caught in her backpack straps when she put it on. It was getting to be slightly dangerous when they had to deal with monsters on a semi-regular basis.

After a thorough search of the salon, the two found one pair of scissors, a comb with half its teeth, and a container of red hair dye.

"Bet you won't," One smiled as she eyed up the hair dye.

"I'll do it if you do it," James shrugged with a similar smile.

"Deal." One gave James a firm hand shake and then grabbed the scissors.

"Whoa, I'm going first?" The gleam of the flickering lights shined off the dull metal of the scissors and gave James a startle. He subconsciously began petting his hair as One took a step closer.

"You don't trust me?" One asked, snapping the scissors open and shut.

"I do..."

"Good," One said and guided James into the chair. She threw a smock over his shoulders and began cutting before James could protest any further.

James watched nervously through the shrouds of mirror that weren't covered in grime but he had to admit that One was doing a pretty good job. He didn't know why he worried so much about how his hair looked in a post-apocalyptic world; he didn't have anyone to impress except One. And perhaps that was why.

One noticed him staring at her in the mirror and smiled. "How am I doing?"

"If you give me a mohawk I'm going to trip you the next time a monster is chasing us," James answered.

"I'll be safe then," One smirked. "I was going to give you an afro."

"Ha ha," James laughed sarcastically. "Are you almost done?"

"Just about, be patient," One muttered, trimming a few more curls. "And...done."

James leaned forward so that he could see his reflection better. "Wow, it actually looks pretty good..."

"No need to act so surprised," One retorted. "Okay, my turn."

"I...um...I..." James began to stammer as One held the scissors out to him.

"Baby." One rolled her eyes once she realized that James was going to chicken out. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and snipped the chunk in one fell swoop. To James' astonishment, inches of golden blonde hair fell to the floor.

James looked up to see One leaning next to the mirror and trimming the disproportionate strands. The result was a shaggy bob that fell just below her chin and James was captivated by it.

"What do you think?" One turned to James after she finished.

"Beautiful," James answered in awe. He immediately blushed afterwards.

"Thanks," One blushed in return. She skipped over and gave James a peck on his very red cheek. Much to One's surprise, he turned partway through and met her on the lips. They stood with their lips pressed to each other for what felt like eternity but was only a few seconds.

When they pulled away they locked eyes and both nervously giggled. While their feelings for each other were very apparent, it was still an unspoken thing. And they were happy with it that way. Just the two of them against the hellish monster-infested world.

"All right, a deal is a deal." One wiggled her eyebrows as she lifted the container of red dye. "Who's going first?"

"Where do you think they're going?" Eleven asked One as they watched Hopper and Joyce speed off through the window.

"I don't know, but we need to be prepared," One responded with a straight face. Whatever Hopper and Joyce were going after could not be good and there were still demo-monsters running around. She felt a strong responsibility to keep Eleven safe. "Help me move the couch."

With Eleven's telekinetic assistance, every entrance in the Byers' home was soon barricaded. Luckily Will was spending the night at Mike's and Jonathan was going to be at work late. It helped One's anxiety knowing that they would be safe.

Once they felt secure enough the two gave each other a nod of approval and tried to settle their thoughts. This wasn't so easy for Eleven, who resumed her spot by the window. She was concerned about Hopper. That video had really upset him. Wherever he had gone with Joyce, she felt certain that the video was related and that somehow Papa was involved.

One plopped on the floor and tried to think of the next course of action. She didn't know what else there was to do but wait but there was some inkling in her gut that her patience would be short-lived. As if on cue, Eleven asked a question that set One's hairs on end.

"Who is that?" Eleven asked, pressing her hand over her eyes and staring out the window.

"What are you talking about?" One asked, pushing herself off of the floor to join Eleven.

"That boy standing at the edge of the yard," Eleven answered, pointing her finger against the glass to show One.

One also had to press her hand over her eyes to block out the glare of the lights off the window, and once she saw what Eleven was referring to a familiar tingle worked its way up her spine. Standing unnervingly still under the flickering light of the post just beyond the driveway was a guy in flannel and khakis with a slightly red tinge to his hair.

James.

"Eleven, I need you to listen to me." One turned to Eleven with a serious face. "No matter what, do not follow me."

"Why? Who is he?" Eleven asked.

"I'll be back," One answered, ignoring Eleven's questions. She wasn't quite ready to tell her who he was yet. One wasn't even entirely sure that she knew who he was. There was the whole issue of James possibly forcing Will to choke her and also being dead...She didn't know who she was going to find under that post.

One gave Eleven one last look before she disappeared through a portal and out into the front yard. She fixed her sight on the spot where she had seen James and was perturbed when she found that he was no longer there. She swung her head around wildly in search of him but the setting sun made it too dark to see anything clearly.

One glanced back at the window where she spotted Eleven watching her from the other side. She stood rooted to her spot, split on what she should do. She felt bad about leaving Eleven but she needed answers. She avoided looking back at Eleven as she took off towards the end of the yard.

"James!" One shouted, desperate for a response. A feeling of déjà vu sent shivers throughout her body. She was overwhelmed with memories of running down hallways at the Lab in search of Seven. "James!" she called again.

Suddenly the silhouette of a person emerged at the end of the driveway and One felt her legs stop pumping. A nervous smile inched its way across her face as she cautiously approached the person.

Steve pulled over and parked his car on the side of the road just before it could come into view of the Byers' house. He looked down at the bouquet of flowers lying on his passenger seat and took a deep breath. He was going to do it. He was going to ask One out.

"All right, Harrington, you've got this," Steve told himself. He double-checked his hair in the mirror and combed through the loose pieces with his fingers. He also bared his teeth to check for anything in them. So far, so good.

"Easy peasy, you've asked girls out millions of times before," he continued to tell himself as he got out of his car and slammed the door. "Well, not millions of times..." he corrected himself.

Steve breathed in and out several times before he willed his legs to walk forwards. He only took a step when he caught the flowers still sitting on the passenger seat in his peripheral vision.

"Dammit," Steve grumbled as he fumbled for his keys, which fell to the ground and slid under his car. "Dammit!" Already off to a rocky start.

After he had re-fixed his hair from army-crawling under his car and the flowers were in his anxious death-like grip, he started walking towards the Byers' house. His heart beat with every step and he felt slightly nauseous, but he pressed on nonetheless.

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"James?" One asked the silhouette that was fast approaching.

"James?" the silhouette responded as it stepped under the light. One felt a mixed sense of relief and disappointment upon seeing who it was. "No, it's Steve."

"What are you doing here?" One asked curiously. A confused look spanned her face as she looked down to see a bouquet of colorful flowers in his hand. Steve blushed and quickly hid them behind his back.

"I...um...well..." Steve stammered, scratching the back of his neck.

One stood staring at him, impatiently awaiting an answer. He was taking up time to look for James. Although she had an inkling that it was already too late. Steve probably scared him off.

"I was gonna...Who's James?" Not confident enough to finish his sentence, Steve switched topics last second.

"Nobody," One answered quickly.

"Okay..." Steve decided not to push it further but the fact that she was out in her yard looking for another guy did make him feel a little nervous. And a little jealous.

"I'm going to head back inside..." One said after a minute of awkward silence. She started to turn to walk back up the driveway when Steve stopped her.

"Wait!" Steve called, thrusting the flowers out from behind his back. "Sorry, this is really embarrassing. I actually parked about a block back so that I could give myself a pep talk before you saw me and evidently that didn't do me any good because I'm still a nervous wreck."

One's features softened as he tried to explain himself. "It's okay."

Steve paused to take several deep breaths before continuing. "Look, I'm here because I wanted to ask you out...on a date."

"A date?"

"Yeah, I think you're really cool and kick-ass and cute and I was wondering if you'd want to get dinner with me tomorrow." The words spilled out of Steve's mouth in a quick jumble as he held the flowers out to One. He'd never felt so flustered around a girl before. Had he lost his game? Or was One just that special?

Even though One was cold because she had left the house without a coat, her face felt warm from the blush that invaded her cheeks. One slowly reached out and grabbed the bouquet from him, burying her face in the petals once she brought them close to her chest. Mostly to smell them, but also to hide her bright pink cheeks from Steve.

"Here." Steve took off his coat and draped it around her shoulders once he noticed her shivering.

"Maybe we could continue this conversation somewhere warmer?" One offered, feeling bad but grateful that Steve had given up his coat for her.

"Sure," Steve responded. "In the house, or...?"

One looked back to the house where she could still see Eleven's figure standing in the window. She didn't really want to continue this conversation in front of Eleven. There was also the matter of the doors being barricaded..."Is there somewhere else we could go?"

"My car is parked just down the street," Steve offered and One nodded in approval. The two walked quietly towards the car, and when they arrived Steve rushed over to open her door for her.

During the walk One couldn't help but think about James. It had been a long time, but he was the first person she had ever loved and seeing him under that lamp post jolted some old feelings...But then there was Steve. And his silky hair and his goofy smile. She didn't know how she was going to answer.

Once the two were seated comfortably inside, both began to speak at the same time.

"If you don't want to that's totally fine," Steve blurted.

"Yeah, tomorrow night would work," One exclaimed. The pattern of speaking simultaneously continued.

"What?"

"What?"

"You first."

"No, go ahead."

"I was just saying..." Steve began to repeat himself when One cut him off.

"I'd love to," One said and felt her cheeks become even warmer. If she blushed any more her face would turn into a light bulb. She was a bit surprised by her answer, but she had decided to go with her gut and her gut said Steve.

There was this magnetic pull towards Steve that One didn't quite understand. They just felt connected in some way, kind of like she had with James. But with Steve it was more intense. Like how she had an inkling that she'd see him again soon, and the portal to the future where she saw them kissing...

"A-awesome," Steve stuttered. He found it difficult to talk when his face was being split in half by a smile. "So, um, tomorrow at seven o'clock? I'll come pick you up?"

One was about to answer when a rap on the window echoed through the car. They were no longer alone.

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