The combination of the sunlight flooding the room and the pounding headache that wouldn't stop was enough to wake Jenna up the next morning. Groaning, she slowly sat up and waited for her eyes to adjust. She took a look around and was confused for a moment, then quickly realized that she was in Steve's room, under the covers of his bed.

That was when the events of last night all came back to her.

Jenna thought she could still taste some of the alcohol and pizza on her lips from when they kissed. There were also moments where she felt his arm or leg touch her own in the middle of the night, just a slight brush across her skin.She wondered if he even realized how close they were in the bed together, but maybe he was too drunk to even care about that. Maybe like Jenna, he was fine with it, just as long as he enjoyed her being around under the circumstances.

When Jenna saw that Steve was nowhere in the room, she then heard the shower turn off, not even noticing that it was on in the first place. It was quiet for a moment, and she was about to gather her things and get ready to leave when the door flew open, revealing Steve in nothing but a pair of jeans with a towel hanging from the back of his neck, hair dripping.

"Oh, hey, you're up," he said, giving her a small smile, quickly going through his dresser. "How you feeling?"

"Like I was hit by a bus."

He chuckled. "That's exactly how I felt, too, when I woke up."

"What time is it?"

"Almost nine-thirty," he responded. "Did you sleep okay last night?"

"Uh, yeah," she replied, leaning back against the wall as the low headboard pressed against her back uncomfortably. "You?"

He nodded his head. "Yeah," he answered, grabbing a shirt and pulling it over his head, despite the water from his hair getting the shirt all wet as he put it on. He looked relieved, almost as if he was embarrassed for her to see him shirtless.

Clearing her throat, Jenna sat up straighter once he sat down at the edge of the bed. "So, um..." She started to say, feeling a bit nervous to even ask her question. "Do you remember anything from last night?"

There was a moment of silence as Steve looked like he was trying to gather his thoughts. Jenna started to fidget with her hands, getting nervous at what he was going to say. She felt her heart beating a little bit faster as she saw the way he looked down at the floor for a moment before glancing at her.

"I remember us eating pizza and drinking in my living room while we talked about our breakups," he finally stated. "Then we were in the kitchen getting water. After that..." Trailing off, he shook his head. "We came up here and passed out on my bed."

Her heart dropped at his words. "Oh," I muttered, nodding my head.

"What do you remember?" he asked.

Almost caught off guard by the question, even though she shouldn't have, Jenna quickly shook my head and chuckled nervously. "Same as you," was all she could say. "My memory's a little fuzzy."

Steve laughed a little, nodding. "Yeah, same here." He paused for a moment, his expression falling as he let out a sigh. "So, uh, I've been thinking...I'm gonna go and talk to Nancy later today."

The smile on Jenna's face slowly faded, raising her eyebrows. "Are you gonna try and get back together with her?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I'll just start with an apology and see where things go from there."

Jenna swallowed hard, feeling her throat burn from the vomit last night. With her head hurting even more, she sighed as she threw the covers off her and got out of his bed, heading for the bathroom. "I should, uh, get going."

"Already?" he questioned, shooting her a confused look. "I can cook us some breakfast and get you something for your head."

"That's okay," she quickly told him, glancing at her hideous state in the mirror.

"Well...you wanna at least brush your teeth before you leave?"

"I have my own toothbrush at home, thanks," she retorted, regretting even saying that as she fixed her hair before leaving the bathroom and heading for the door. "I'll see you later, Steve," she added, exiting his bedroom and rushing down the stairs with her keys in hand, going out the front door and towards the car.

Getting inside and pulling out of Steve's driveway, Jenna felt her hands grip the wheel tighter than usual, knowing exactly where she was going, and it wasn't her house, despite her appearance being less than presentable. All she could think about was who she could go to tell about what happened last night, and she hoped that person would be working his shift at Melvald's this morning: Carter.

Jenna couldn't get the image of Steve out of her head while on the way to the store, seeing the different ways he looked at her when talking about the night before and then changing the subject to Nancy. Even if he didn't outright say it, Jenna could tell that he still cared for her, despite what went down between her and Steve. Jenna wondered if he was really going to try and get back together with her. Whether he did or not, it still didn't change what happened last night.

How could he not remember any of it? We weren't that drunk, were we? Drunk enough to forget that we kissed?

It only left Jenna confused and a little hurt over it, as there was a part of her that thought it all meant something to both of them. While it was probably stupid to admit, given the circumstances, it meant something to her.

As Jenna pulled in front of Melvald's, she already noticed that Carter wasn't at the front counter like yesterday, which frustrated her. While it seemed weird that he was the one she was willing to go to first about this whole situation, it wasn't surprising at this point, given their odd friendship, if she could even call it that. In a way, she trusted him with talking about her problems, and since Janet was too close with Steve to talk about this, he was her next choice out of their unlikely friend group.

Before Jenna stepped inside the store, her eyes went to Dana leaning against the building, along with Eddie as he handed her a package of Pop-Tarts. Relief just about came over her as Jenna realized that she hadn't seen her since Halloween, along with being right about her and Eddie together these last few days.

"Wow," Dana stated when she saw Jenna walking towards them, pulling out a blueberry Pop-Tart from the package. "You look and smell like--"

"I'm already aware, thanks," Jenna cut her off as she approached the two of them. "Anyway, where the hell have you two been?"

"Since when does Jenna Howard care about where we've been?" Eddie spoke up. "Worried that I had kidnapped her so that she could join my devil cult?"

"Trust me, that's the least of my worries," she told him, then turned towards Dana, already feeling nervous. "But I do have a, uh...crisis."

Dana raised her eyebrows, growing concerned. "What's going on?" She glanced at Eddie, then back at Jenna. "Is it one of your episodes again?" she asked in a whisper.

"No, it's not that," she replied, shaking her head. "But first, where's Carter?"

"I don't know. He left early yesterday morning," she answered. "Why, what's wrong?"

Jenna huffed a sigh in frustration. "Steve kissed me," she blurted.

Before Dana could react to what Jenna said, Eddie began to cough with some crumbs from his Pop-Tart falling out of his mouth. "Sorry, but...that's your crisis? Howard, you do realize there are people all over the world dying from, like, war and disease and other shit, right?"

"Okay, so it's not an actual crisis," she clarified. "But it's kind of complicated and also stressing me out a little."

"Yeah, no shit," Dana spoke up. "Wait, what about you and Craig? And Steve and Nancy?"

"It's kind of a long story," she replied. "But Craig and I broke up the night of Tina's Halloween party."

"Holy shit," she stated. "About time it happened, though."

"Tell me something I don't know," Jenna mumbled. "Anyway, Steve and Nancy broke up, too. But that's also a story for another time."

"Damn, I sure missed a lot while I was gone," Dana said, eating more of her Pop-Tart. "So, like, Steve just kissed you out of nowhere?"

She shrugged. "Sort of. I mean, we were both drunk and just talking when it happened."

"Right, because that always ends well," Eddie commented in a sarcastic tone.

Rolling her eyes, Jenna continued with her rant. "As I was saying, when I asked him about last night, he told me that he didn't remember most of it."

"And that bothers you, because...?" Eddie raised his eyebrows.

"Because she likes him," Dana spoke up.

Jenna let out a scoff, trying to play it off. "What? No, that's not--"

"That's exactly what it is," Dana cut her off, eyes going wide. "Oh my God, you like Steve!"

Jenna rolled her eyes again. "You're starting to sound like Janet."

"Which means we're right about you and Steve."

"Well, it's not like he feels that way about me," Jenna explained. "At least, I don't think he does."

"You won't know unless you ask him about it," Eddie chimed in.

"Yeah, like that's so easy to do," she retorted sarcastically.

Eddie chuckled. "I didn't think living in the party kid world was so hard."

"That's funny, coming from Eddie 'The Freak' Munson."

"I'd rather be a freak than some stuck-up bastard like Steve 'The Hair' Harrington."

"He's not who you think he is," she protested. "Well, at least not anymore."

"Oh, well, good for him, then," he stated, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, that's enough, you guys," Dana stepped in. "I think you and Steve are both confused about how you feel towards each other. I mean, you two are pretty close."

Jenna shot her a puzzled look. "Okay, and? You and Eddie are pretty close, too."

"We're not one hell of a mess like you and Harrington," Eddie intervened again.

Of course, Jenna couldn't disagree with that, seeing as she was standing here right now in front of them with probably the biggest predicament she and Steve ever had to face as friends. The thing was, she didn't pull away from him when it happened, and she wasn't sure if everything between them would have been worse if she had. Even now, all she could think about was the conversation that would take place eventually and the ways it could go. Her brain instantly went to the bad outcome, and she hoped it didn't turn out that way for them.

"So what, you want me to go talk to him and try to fix things between us?" she inquired.

"It's worth a shot," Dana answered. "Maybe he feels the same way about all of it."

"You mean, awkward and confused?"

"And also possibly something romantic..."

Rolling her eyes in frustration, Jenna sat down at the nearest bench, feeling the nausea come back, with her empty stomach not helping. "Do you really think there's something like that between us? Like, is it that obvious?"

Dana's expression turned soft as she turned to motion Eddie towards his van, which he obliged and dashed to the driver's side. She came over and sat down next to Jenna, breaking off a piece of her Pop-Tart. "What was it like? Kissing him, I mean."

She had to think about that question for a moment. What was it like kissing Steve Harrington? To have him get so close and tell her that he saw her for who she truly was? To feel his hands on her as his lips were having a hard time leaving her own? It was unexpected. But did she enjoy it? In a way, yes, she did.

Which only made Jenna's problem even more confusing. Maybe Janet and Dana were onto something about the two of them. It still didn't change the fact that Steve was one of her best friends and this happened just a few days after becoming single again after almost a year of being in serious relationships.

"It was nice," she finally answered, nodding her head. "Especially after the way Craig and I ended things on a very bad note."

"So you liked it," Dana stated.

"Yeah, I did."

"And would you do it again sober?"

Jenna shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe. I don't know." Letting out a groan, she felt her headache get worse as she closed her eyes and leaned back. "Why does this have to be so fucking complicated?"

"Everything involving boys is complicated, which is why we usually have to figure things out for them."

"So that's what I need to do about me and Steve? Figure all of this out on my own and let him know what's going on?" Of course, this was probably Jenna's only option, seeing that miscommunication seemed to be an issue for him.

"Or just give it some time and see if he brings it up," Dana suggested. "Maybe you two need a day or so to work out your own personal feelings."

Sighing, Jenna looked over at Dana and nodded. "Yeah, I think you're right. That might be for the best." Knowing that Steve was going to Nancy's later today to resolve things made her not want to think about all of this anymore. "So what's the deal with you and Eddie? You've just been hanging out with him for the last few days?"

Dana laughed a little. "My dad and I kind of got into an argument recently. I needed to cool off and Eddie offered me to stay at his place."

"And there's still nothing going on between you two?" Jenna raised her eyebrows, grinning.

She rolled her eyes as her cheeks turned red. "No, there isn't."

While Jenna didn't believe her, she let it go and stood up, almost falling over as she got a bit dizzy. "Well, I better get going. This hangover isn't gonna cure itself."

"Want a Pop-Tart?" Dana asked, offering her the toaster pastry.

Jenna gave her a disgusted look. "Not blueberry. Strawberry is way better."

"Strawberry? I knew there was something off about you," Eddie's somewhat playful voice was heard again as he walked towards the girls with a water bottle in his hand.

Jenna scoffed. "You have no idea," she muttered, almost wanting to laugh at his comment due to him being oblivious to what he didn't know about her.

He held out the water bottle for her to grab. "For your hangover."

Jenna looked at it before taking it from his hand. "Thanks," she said, then turned towards Dana. "And thanks for...you know, listening and giving me advice."

"Always happy to help," she said, followed with a smile. "Hope it all works out."

"Yeah, me, too," she replied, waving at the two before heading back to her car.

Jenna gulped down as much water as she could before driving off, going to her house this time. She tried to not think about Steve again, wanting to clear her head of him, but the image of him getting ready to drive over to Nancy's house caused her stomach to flip and her headache to pound even more. She just couldn't get him out of her head. It made her wonder if she was stuck in his head, too.

Her mom's car wasn't in the driveway when she pulled up, and seeing as she didn't spot her at Melvald's, she was most likely with Joyce or Hopper right now. Honestly, Jenna was relieved at that, as being alone for a few hours was fine by her. But when she parked the car in the driveway and got out, she looked up at the front porch and saw a small, curly-haired figure standing up and looking at Jenna, her fingers wrapped around the strap of a knapsack over her shoulder. Jenna narrowed her eyes to get a better look at her face, almost dropping her mouth in shock when she thought she recognized her.

"Eleven?"

~~~~~~~

A/N: Well, Jenna is in a bit of a messy situation.

Also, shoutout to Mare and justanillusion for the headcanon about Eddie and Blueberry Pop-Tarts, (which is included in her Eddie Munson fic, Wildfire, so go check that out).

Comment, vote, more to come soon!

-A