In the weeks following Jenna's birthday party, she hadn't given much thought about what she said in her drunken state. For the most part, she didn't talk about it much with anyone other than her mom, who found out about her sneaking out and getting drunk, so she grounded Jenna the day after for a couple of weeks. The hangover she had the next morning was bad enough punishment in her opinion.

But after Jenna was no longer grounded, not too far into the month of July, she got a call from Craig one afternoon, telling her that he wanted to give the double date with Steve and Nancy a chance, much to her surprise. Still, she was excited that he actually agreed to it.

Now, a week later, Jenna was sitting on the stool with one knee tucked close to her as she was on the phone with Janet, already starting to regret this idea that she came up with as she waited for Craig to pick her up. At least her mom was at work and not here listening to the conversation.

"I can't believe I even brought it up that night," she told Janet.

"Well, you were pretty drunk at your own birthday party, dudette," Janet pointed out. "At least you didn't take off your bathing suit in front of everyone."

She laughed in response. "God, I would've skipped town. There's no way I could ever come back from something so embarrassing like that."

"And the entire town of Hawkins would remember it, too."

"My point exactly."

"So where are you guys going for this double date?"

"That mini-golf place near the arcade. I think it's called Birdies." The last time Jenna had been there was with her mom a few years ago.

Janet let out a snort. "Did you and Nancy let the boys pick?"

"They insisted on it. You know how competitive those two are in basketball. I guess they wanted to try and outdo each other in a different sport this time."

"Right, because that's going to end well," Janet said sarcastically. Jenna was sure she rolled her eyes, too.

"Tell me something I don't know." Jenna heard a car pull up in the driveway, to which she stood up as fast as she could. "I gotta go. I think Craig's here."

"Call me later and give me all the juicy gossip," she said jokingly.

Jenna chuckled. "Will do. Bye, Janet." With that, she hung up the phone and smoothed out her jeans and white t-shirt. She was tightening up her high ponytail when there was a knock at the door, feeling okay about this double date for now. When she opened the door, Craig had a smile on his face as they locked eyes.

"Hey, you," he greeted her. "Ready to go?"

Jenna raised her eyebrows, grinning. "Someone's eager to get going," she said, reaching over to get her keys on the table before stepping out and closing the door behind her and locking it.

"I have to say that I'm kind of excited for it," he told her as they headed towards his car.

"I'm still surprised you agreed to it," she replied.

"Well, you know I thought it was a stupid idea when you brought it up," he said. "But I know that you and Steve are friends, so I'm willing to give it a shot."

Jenna smiled as she stood by his car. "I appreciate that."

As they got in the car and started heading towards Birdies to meet up with Steve and Nancy, Jenna was already starting to feel nervous the more she thought about this double date. Knowing the tension there always was between the boys from school, she couldn't help but think this date would end very badly for everyone. The last thing any of them needed was for this double date to be a bust.

During the drive, Craig had the radio turned on while neither of them said anything. It left Jenna alone with her head spinning, which she knew was never a good sign. She tried to focus on her hands when she realized how hot they were getting.

"Shit," she mumbled, turning my head away from Craig.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she lied. Looking at her reflection in the window, she saw the blood coming down her nose. Jenna widened her eyes and quickly wiped the blood on her arm. She hoped that her powers wouldn't be the reason that this date ended in a disaster.

They had a habit of flaring up at the most random times, something that never stopped after Will Byers was rescued from the Upside Down. Her mom didn't know a lot about it with Jenna not telling her how frequently it was happening, knowing she would constantly worry about her all over again about Jenna and her powers. She didn't want that for her, and seeing that Jenna trying to control her powers wasn't going the way she wanted it to, she figured she'd be quiet about it for now and just try to be normal for both their sakes. If only it was all working out a little bit better for Jenna.

Just as the couple pulled into the parking lot of Birdies, Jenna spotted Steve and Nancy already waiting for them at the front entrance, leaning against the brick wall of the building. When Jenna got out of the car, the nerves were still there, trying to keep herself together as she and Craig approached them.

"We were wondering if you guys were gonna show up," Steve stated, his voice hinting that he was joking around.

"I mean, it was Jenna's idea," Craig pointed out, motioning towards Jenna, grabbing her hand.

"But I didn't expect you to actually ask them about doing this," she reminded him, then turned to face Steve and Nancy. "Or for you guys to agree to it."

"We thought it'd be fun," Nancy spoke up, smiling a little.

"So you guys ready?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, let's go," Craig replied, leading Jenna and the others inside.

Jenna was starting to feel a little more at ease once they got their clubs and golf balls picked out, then headed back outside to begin the course. Starting out at the first hole was okay, as everything was going smoothly with the boys getting along for now. As they kept going, Jenna and Nancy stayed behind and watched the two compete with each other, which they found entertaining.

"I swear, they're both taking this game way too seriously," Nancy stated, laughing when they got to the halfway point of the course.

"Yeah, one of them is gonna end up hitting the other one with their club," Jenna responded, adding a chuckle as well.

Smiling, Nancy put her ball down and began to line up her shot. "So, uh...how are you and Craig? I mean, is it getting pretty serious between you two?"

As Jenna watched her swing the club, she nodded her head. "Yeah, it's definitely serious between us. What about you and Steve? He's not still being an ass, is he?"

Nancy giggled, shaking her head as she hit the ball. "No, he's not like he was before. Ever since..." She trailed off, watching her ball roll down the course, her face falling. "We all changed that night. None of us have been the same, you know?"

Jenna shared the same look she had as she nodded her head again. "Yeah."

Jenna knew that she wasn't the only one who kept thinking about fighting that monster at Jonathan's house that night and how it affected all of them. Even when things went back to the way they were within everyone's social groups at school, it was as if something inside of them was different now that they all had something in common. Of course, none of them really wanted to talk about it anymore, which Jenna didn't blame them. But she wondered if they would ever get together and bring up the subject again. It didn't seem like that would happen anytime soon, unless another monster came to Hawkins.

"So how have you been dealing with...you know...your powers?" Nancy inquired in a low voice.

Shrugging, Jenna lined up her shot, looking down. "I, uh...I haven't, actually," she confessed. "It's..." Trailing off, she suddenly felt light-headed, closing her eyes for a brief moment to try and make it go away. "It's been hard."

"Are you okay?" she asked, sounding concerned.

"What's taking you girls so long?" Craig called out to us.

"I just..." She was getting even more dizzy, stumbling a little. "Nancy..."

"Jenna?" Steve spoke up this time.

Her hands started to shake as they got hotter like before. She dropped the club once the burning sensation got unbearable for her. Jenna quickly straightened up, only for her to lose balance and fall to the ground.

"Jenna!" Nancy yelled, running towards her.

"It's happening again," she muttered, grabbing her shoulder.

Steve was the next one to approach Jenna, getting to the ground in front of her and placing his hand on her forehead. "Shit, you're burning up."

"Steve, I think it's her powers," Nancy said in a low voice, then turning towards Jenna. "And your nose is bleeding."

Groaning, Jenna lifted her hand to wipe it off. She looked down and saw the little drops of red blood on her white t-shirt. "Great," she said sarcastically.

Craig came running frantically, getting between Steve and Jenna to get a better look at her. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Craig," she assured him. "I just got a little dizzy, that's all."

"What's on your shirt?" he asked, seeing the red marks. "Oh my God. Is that blood? Is it those nosebleeds again?"

"She gets those a lot," Steve said.

"Yeah, I'm aware, Harrington," Craig snapped. "This isn't my first time dealing with them."

"Well, how about when she gets a fever?" Steve retorted, grabbing one of Jenna's arms, while Nancy took the other one. "Alright, let's get you up..."

"I'll take her home," Craig intervened, standing up as well and holding out his arms for her. "Come on, Jenna..."

"Whoa, slow down, Bennett," Steve told him. "Let's just get her inside so she can cool down."

Craig let out a scoff. "Last time I checked, she wasn't your girlfriend."

"No, but she's my friend, and Nance and I have seen this happen before," he retorted, turning around and leading Jenna inside the building. "What's going on, Jenna?" he asked quietly enough so that Craig couldn't hear him from behind.

"It's her powers," Nancy explained. "I think they're flaring up."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know, and I don't think she does, either."

"Guys, I think I'm gonna pass out," Jenna said weakly, already having her vision get blurry the more she kept walking.

"Jesus, your entire body feels like it's on fire," Steve commented.

"Oh, really? I didn't notice," she replied, trying to be funny as she let out a chuckle at the end.

Once they were inside, Steve and Nancy took Jenna to the nearest available table and set her down. While Steve and Nancy went to grab some water and napkins, Craig took a seat next to her, his expression turning soft.

"Hey, Jenna," he said, lifting her head so that she was facing him. "Damn, you are burning up. And Harrington said this has happened before?"

"It's nothing, I promise."

"Well, it sure as hell looks like a big deal."

Despite her best efforts to shrug it off like it wasn't a big deal, Jenna knew Craig wasn't buying it. She admired him for caring, but this was obviously a lot more complicated than he would ever realize, and she didn't need him involved in any of it.

"Alright, here's your water," Steve placed the cup of water in front of Jenna, then sat down in the chair across from her.

"And I got you some napkins," Nancy added, handing her a few for her nose before sitting down next to Steve.

"Okay, can someone tell me what the hell is going on?" Craig asked, sounding a little annoyed.

Wiping the blood off her face, Jenna exchanged glances with Steve and Nancy, unsure of what to say. The silence was becoming more and more suspicious, and she didn't want Craig to blow up in their faces and make the situation worse.

Finally, Nancy opened her mouth to speak as she turned to face Craig. "She has this...thing with nosebleeds and fevers..."

Craig furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What, you mean, like some kind of disease or genetics?"

"Yes, that's exactly what it is," Nancy agreed, relieved that he even mentioned it. "Her mom gets them, too."

"It's pretty common in my family," Jenna added smoothly, going off of what Nancy said.

Craig, still confused, looked at her. "So it really isn't a big deal? You get these all the time?"

She nodded, taking a sip of her water. "I told you it was nothing, Craig."

Looking back at Steve and Nancy, then back at Jenna, he finally let out a sigh and grabbed her hand. "Well, I'm glad to know it's nothing too serious. Just let me know how I can help you out whenever this happens again."

Jenna gave him a small smile. "Thank you." She went back and forth looking at Craig, Steve, and Nancy. "I'm sorry I ruined this for you guys."

"It's okay," Nancy assured her.

"Yeah, I think Bennett and I learned tonight that we should just stick with basketball," Steve said, chuckling.

Craig laughed as well. "I still kicked your ass, though."

Steve scoffed. "Whatever."

So the four of them remained seated for a while, getting some pizza from the front counter. As they ate and talked some more, Jenna could feel her body cooling down and relaxing, along with her head no longer spinning and her nose not bleeding. Seeing the four chatting and laughing made her happy that there was some normalcy in this double date. For just a few hours, all she could see was a bunch of teenagers eating pizza and having fun. It was nice to be normal and to do normal teenager things while they were still young and carefree. She wanted to take that in as much as possible.

By the time they left Birdies, the night air hit them in the face as Jenn and Craig bid Steve and Nancy goodbye. Taking her hand, Craig led Jenna back to his car and helped her inside this time. She leaned back in the seat and watched as Craig hopped inside the driver's seat and faced her.

"What?" he asked, laughing a little.

She shook her head. "Nothing," she said. "I really am sorry for messing up tonight."

"You didn't mess anything up, Jenna," he assured her. "It was fun."

She nodded her head this time sighing. "It looked like Steve and Nancy had fun, too."

Craig paused for a moment, his expression turning uneasy. "Yeah, speaking of Harrington, what's with you two?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, puzzled by his question.

"I mean, I know you two are friends and all, but he was getting really protective over you when you had your episode on the course," he explained. "Wheeler looked just as worried, but at least she wasn't so quick to drag you away from me."

"They were just looking out for me, Craig," she responded. "That's what friends do, you know."

He scoffed. "Yeah, I guess."

"So what's the problem, then?"

"There isn't a problem, Jenna."

"Well, you're making it sound like there's one."

Huffing a sigh, he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I guess it's weird that you're closer with them all of a sudden. Like, a lot closer."

Jenna couldn't help but laugh, despite her getting annoyed by him bringing this up. "If you think Steve, Nancy, and I are in some kind of three way relationship--"

"Oh, God, no," he cut her off, a disgusted look now on his face. "That's not...what I mean is that you and Steve used to bicker at each other all the time and you hardly said anything to Nancy Wheeler until she got together with him. What changed?"

Opening her mouth to speak, Jenna was having a hard time figuring out any more lies to tell him. Because the truth would only confuse and anger him, not believing a single word that came out of her mouth. There was no way he'd want to admit that Hawkins was filled with monsters that terrorized this town once already and that was how it brought so many people together, how it made them connect to one another in ways that they never thought would happen. Everyone involved changed that night, just like Nancy said. Really, everything had changed, but Craig would never understand that, no matter how much Jenna wanted him to.

"We grew up a little. That's what changed," was all that she could come up with. It wasn't technically a lie, because maybe they all did some growing up after fighting that monster at Jonathan's.

Craig nodded his head, accepting that answer. "Okay, fair enough." He paused, grinning her way before he continued. "So is there anything else I need to know about you?"

Jenna laughed, shaking her head. "No, there's not," she lied, trying to keep Craig convinced.

"And you're sure that you're okay now."

"Yes, I'm sure."

He cupped her face, leaning in. "Good." With that, he slowly pressed his lips onto hers for a moment. After pulling away, he started the car up and turned the radio up. "Let's get you home."

Jenna faced forward as Craig put the car in reverse and backed out of the parking spot. Driving out of the lot, she spotted Steve and Nancy still here, both of them looking right at her until she was no longer in sight.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Well, this chapter was a lot longer than I expected LMAO but that's okay. :)

Would like to add here that votes and comments really motivate me, and while I see the reads going up in this story, the votes and comments tend to stay the same unless I update and I'd appreciate it if I heard more from you guys. I'm curious to know what you like about this story, so PLEASE let me know!

Comment, vote, pretty please? And thank you for 6k reads! <3

-A