STEVE

"MHM?" Steve squinted through the binoculars. They were Dustin's, and probably bought several years ago, which was why the lenses were too small, and also why you had to tilt your head almost up like a dish in order to see through them properly. Also, Steve's nose kept poking the bit in the middle.

"Also, look for earpieces, camo, duffel bags, that sort of thing," Dustin said to his left tensely.

"Right, okay, duffel bags," he muttered, as he scanned the top floor. Almost everyone was walking, which made it hard for Steve to sweep through all the faces and accessories. Except when he caught sight of two familiar faces, coincidentally leaning against the railing. "Man, come on,"

"What?" Dustin said urgently.

"Anna Jacobi's talking with that meathead Mark Lewinsky," he whined. "I mean, not that that's a big deal or anything; just that they're not right for each other, man,"

"If you're not gonna focus, just gimme the binoculars,"

"Like, when you're just spectating, you're like; how does that happen? Because how does it? Honestly, the society we live in,"

"Dude, you are the worst spy in history, you know that?" Dustin sighed, snatching the binoculars off, tugging at the string remaining at Steve's neck. "Gimme those,"

"Hey- stop," Steve protested, his eyes remaining on the duo.

"I don't get why you're looking at girls. You have the perfect one in front of you," Dustin looked through the binoculars instead.

"-Seriously, if you say her again,"

"Kat,"

"No- stop it,"

"Kat,"

"No," 

"Kathryn,"

"Stop,"

"Katie,"

"No! Man, we're not like that. We're not even- like, in the first step of that direction," Steve huffed, flicking a hair out of his vision.

"Okay, Robin, then," Dustin said, looking at him snootily.

"No, dude! She's not my type," 

"What's your type again, not awesome?"

"Thanks,"

"You're welcome,"

Steve adjusted his position to criss-cross-applesauce, the previous weird crouch being too heavy on his hip muscles. 

"Kat- she's just...it's hard to explain. She's Nancy's sister, which makes it a bit weird, and she's going out of Hawkins for college, to Purdue. That's like, two hours away, man. How am I gonna date her if she's not even here half the time?," Steve shifted. "Y'know, there was a rumor last year that she's still a virgin. Not- not that that matters, duh. But it- dude, this stuff, she doesn't have experience, y'know? And she's never had a long-term boyfriend, either, though I dunno whether that's legit. But I need somebody who's got that skill set, y'know?"

Steve said it, and instantly felt guilty. There was indeed a rumor about Kathryn Wheeler's virginity last year, which was quickly shut down by her and Monique. It really didn't matter whether she had experience or not, he knew. The regret wallowed in his chest that he'd not only thought, but spoken the words aloud. Geez, Steven. He knew he'd screwed up. He was probably too desperate to think of excuses to put Katie down and started spiraling. Dammit.

"Now that you're outta high school, which means you're technically an adult,don't you think it's time you move on from primitive constructs such as popularity?" Dustin said pointedly, taking his eyes off the lenses, only reaffirming what Steve wondered.

"Oh, primitive constructs? That some stupid shit you learned at Camp... Know... Nothing?" he mocked.

"Camp Know Where, actually. And no, it's shit I learned from life. Instead of dating somebody you think's gonna make you cooler, why not date somebody you actually enjoybeing around? Like me and Suzie." he said meaningfully.

"Oh, Suzie. Yeah, you mean, "hotter than Phoebe Cates." That Suzie. And, uh, let's think about how exactly did you score that beautiful girlfriend?" Steve said sarcastically. "Oh, yeah. With my advice. Because that's how this works, Henderson. I give you the advice, you follow through. Not the other way around, all right, pea-brain?"

"You gotta take a chill pill, dude," Dustin rolled his pale bluish eyes. "Just- accept that other people know better. And even if you don't accept it, just go up to Kat one time when you guys are alone and ask her out,"

"Henderson- you are one second away from frying a nerve in my brain. That is not how it works-"

"And you name another way that's worked up to this day, huh?" Dustin said sassily. "I actually asked Suzie to be my girlfriend. I confessed to her that I liked her and what I liked about her, all that stuff you told me. But here's the trick I have now, that I have over you, Steve," he said, shuffling closer. "Record scratch; you cannot, most definitely not, act like you don't care,"

Steve opened his mouth, before Dustin continued.

"-go ahead! Say it's a generational gap, I don't care! But have you ever considered that's the flaw in your system?"

"Of course not, because it's not true," Steve huffed.

"Okay. Then test it out. Take your crush on Kat, actually care about her when you ask her out. Then see what happens,"

"Dude- I'm not gonna make Katie some sorta stepstone to reaching nirvana," Steve said pointedly.

"You get what I'm trying to say!" Dustin huffed. "We're getting distracted. Let's focus,"

The spying didn't work. All they found was a stupid Jazzercise guy that was Katie's coworker. A smokin' hot guy, to top it off. Steve wondered if he and Katie had something going on, and his lower lip curled in a frown as a response. 

To be honest, he didn't know how he felt about her. She was probably his best friend, though they never put any labels on anything. Katie was that type of person, she never pressured anyone into putting a label on something. She was one of the greatest people on Earth, actually smart, nice, and all. And...she made him feel things. In his tummy. Like one time, when he got a fever, and before his dad started cheating his mom, his mother would bring him an ice pack out of the freezer, wrap it in a fuzzy jacket, and hold it against his forehead. Katie was like that. She was the ice pack. 

And speak of the devil, she was currently curled up against the cooled glass of the ice cream display, eyes closed as her legs hung off the counter.

"What're you doing?" Dustin asked, noticing her curious position.

Katie opened her eyes, the grey that guided Steve through both his dreams and nightmares coming to life.

"Whoa. Uh, nothing," she stammered, and it was then that Steve noticed the intense shine in her irises. And she was wearing a ton of makeup. It almost looked cakey, and Steve knew she'd never do that on purpose. It was nearly like she'd poured half a bottle of concealer underneath one of her eyes.

"Hey- are you okay?" he asked, noticing how she had to place both hands on the table to get down as if she were in a midlife crisis. 

"Yeah. I'm totally fine," she nodded. Then Steve noticed the two cups of eaten Moose Tracks ice cream. 

"Uh, maybe you shouldn't be eating that much ice cream," he said, and Katie rolled her eyes, showing more of her whites. 

"I'm fine. I'm not sick. But there is something I have to tell you both," she said, and her voice narrowed in seriousness. "Come on,"

"And then, I was in Max's room. And I hear a sound behind me, I turn around, and there's somebody there,"

"I thought the house was empty?" Dustin said in confusion. They were in one of the more secluded booths of Scoops Ahoy.

"Same. But I turn around, and then," Katie furrowed her light brown eyebrows. "This is where it gets weird. Like, I remember some bits of this part, but then when I try to go deeper, it's- my mind gets, like woozy,"

"Go on," Steve prompted, concerned at the way she looked at the ground in confusion and hurt.

"Yeah. So, I turn around, and then I think- I think Billy's there. But I'm not sure, he didn't, well, move like Billy. And his eyes looked different, so it might've been somebody else," she breathed. "But whoever they were, they punched me,"

"What?" Steve said, his heart falling with a plop. It quickly rose again in anger. "Billy punched you?"

"Maybe it wasn't Billy! I don't know," Katie said, before sighing. "And I just, I guess I got knocked out after that, but then I wake up in my room, and it's bright outside, and my mom's calling me for breakfast,"

"...Are you sure it wasn't a bad dream?" Dustin said hesitantly.

"No- no, it was real," Katie said.

"Do you have any evidence, maybe? Like, did he take your car when he drove you home? Or leave any footprints?" Steve pressed her, fully believing her attacker was Billy. Anger curled in his chest like a growling cat, ready to pounce.

"I- no," she said.

"Well, how do you feel right now?" he asked.

"Weird. Like, really weird. Weird as in...last year's drama type weird. I've never been knocked out before, and obviously I have a black eye. I don't think it's as bad as a concussion, though. I'm tired as always, but...I dunno, it's just weird,"

Steve's brows furrowed in confusion, as he leaned back.

"He likes it cold," Dustin whispered.

"What?"

"The Mind Flayer. It likes to be cold," he continued. "Maybe whoever it was had some sort of connection to the Upside Down. Or- or the Russians! Will felt like this, last year, didn't he?"

"Shit," Steve breathed, as he remembered Jonathan telling him about Will's insistient ice baths, and furiousity when it came to heat. Maybe they were all overreacting, but with all they'd seen before, the symptoms came as a connection instantly. 

"Are you sure about this, guys?" she laughed, hugging her arms to herself. And Steve rewinded back. She said got knocked out and woke up back home feeling weird. He felt foolish. Yet, it was always safe to assume the worst.

"Wait- no, this is different. You just said that you only feel sick, right?" Steve said.

"Yeah. And it makes sense for my nerves to be fried after being knocked out,"

"Okay, okay, fine," Dustin said. "Upside Down stuff aside. Why would Billy punch you? That just seems kinda...off,"

"Exactly, that's what I thought. It's just so off. I've never felt like this before, and call me crazy, but I'm getting flashbacks to November," Katie sighed. "It's probably nothing,"

"No, it's not nothing," Steve frowned. "We need to figure out what Billy was doing that night. Or whoever was at Max's house, we'll start chronologically,"

"Okay," she said quietly in agreement.

"Guys!" Robin burst in, standing out of breath. The trio broke apart guiltily, as if they were kids conspiring against parents. The tense atmosphere broke apart like a knife slicing through jello.

"What?" Steve asked, annoyed.

"I cracked it!" Robin exclaimed. "I cracked the code,"

━━author's note ━━

short chapter, but v important! what do you think is happening with kat? note: she is not 'flayed'! this book goes to season five haha

also, about the billy-kat-upsidedown thing, it's normal for dustin and steve to automatically assume that kat was contacted by the upside down. theyve been through an entire supernatural army, so ofc theyd assume it was the upside down at first before rewinding back to common sense