No worries, no vol 2 spoilers here. A spoiler free mention of it in the author note but otherwise nothing

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"All young people, regardless of
sexual orientation or identity, deserve
a safe and supportive environment in
which to achieve their full potential."
-Harvey Milk
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By the time 1985 rolled around the dynamics between our friends in Hawkins had shifted terribly. For starters, Steve and Scarlett were absolutely swamped with work that they needed to do for their exams. Between work and school, Scarlett's free time became scarce which helped her convince Steve to study with her.

At the same time Eleven was adjusting to having friends and a boyfriend who came over on a regular basis, and her poor father had to adjust to see his daughter kissing a certain Wheeler boy. As the secrecy of Eleven's life faded slowly, the girl started to learn a little bit more about the world and started watching tv shows that her friends recommended. Eleven had stopped only wearing Hopper's old clothes and the clothes the man had bought for her at some thrift shop, Eleven could now be found sporting one of Scarlett's old blouses or skirts on a regular basis.

Then there was Blake who had finally found a home where she could be herself. First the changes came in the way the young woman would waltz into rooms with a grin, then her snarky comments diminished ever so slightly and then her grades started to go from 'F's and 'D's to 'C's and 'B's with even an 'A' sprinkled in there. The most obvious change came when even Blake started to go after the fashionable hairstyles of the 80s instead of lingering in the 70s. The once pin straight long hair had been cut and curled to reach her shoulders, with thin bangs brushing her forehead and framing her face.

On one of Steve and Scarlett's long study sessions in the library, Lucas and Floyd decided to surprise the two with some sweets. On the way there both boys had stumbled across the gym where the basketball players and cheerleaders were practicing. Whilst Lucas turned to the basketball boys in amazement, Floyd turned to the cheerleaders in fascination.

"If we want to watch The Breakfast Club then Mike will have to move his date with El, and there's no way he would do that," Lucas argued as he swung open the doors of the library and held them open for Floyd.

The boy huffed, blowing one of his longer curls out of his face. "Yeah, you're right," The boy grumbled and shook his head annoyed. Floyd noticed Scarlett and Steve sitting at a table as they kissed. "Ew."

Lucas followed Floyd's line of sight and shook his head as the duo walked up to the couple. "This isn't studying you know?" Lucas commented, dropping a box of Nerds on the table.

The two young adults pulled back and Steve shrugged innocently. "It is a study motivator," He stated as he grasped the box of Nerds and opened it up. Scarlett let out a chuckle and turned back to the opened textbook before her.

Lucas looked at Scarlett for a moment and took a deep breath. "Sooooo Scarlett," Immediately all three people at the table snapped their heads in Lucas' direction, his tone insinuating he was going to ask something from her. "Remember how I said I talked to Max in the employee room of the arcade?" Scarlett nodded cautiously and Lucas gave her the worst smile ever. "I may have promised Keith a date with you in return."

"What the hell man?" Steve burst out and shoved the younger boy's arm.

"Sorry! You were single, he was single, I needed to talk to Max," Lucas gestured to Scarlett before waving his hands at himself. "It seemed like a win win situation," Lucas defended. From the faces of his friends he realised that his defence was indeed poor.

Scarlett sighed. "Lucas, why didn't you ask me if I would agree?" She pressed to which Lucas shrug innocently. "Well, tell Keith I'm sorry but no."

"I'm sure he's used to being blown off," Steve commented with a shrug, earning pointed looks from the two Hendersons at the table. Although if you looked closer at Floyd's face, you would see the faintest signs of a look of agreement.

Immediately Lucas shook his head wildly. "No, Scar please. Keith has banned me from the arcade until he gets a date with you."

Floyd's head snapped away from Steve to look at Lucas with a pout. "Is that why you blew me and Max off at the arcade yesterday?" Lucas spread his hands with a tightlipped smile and Floyd shook his head.

"It was a win win situation."

"Win win?" Floyd demanded with raised brows. "We talked about this last year, when we wanted to find Max." Lucas simply shrugged again and turned back to Scarlett with puppy eyes and uttered another please.

The eldest Henderson let out a sigh and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Lucas." The boy continued to look at her with pleading eyes and Scarlett sighed and turned to look at Steve.

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Scarlett and Steve got into Steve's BMW and Steve was about to start the car when Scarlett snuck a peek at him. "I meant what I said," Steve looked up and turned his head to her. "I won't do it if you feel uncomfortable," Scarlett repeated her words from earlier.

A beat long silence developed them before Steve smiled at her. "Scar, it's okay. I know it won't mean anything," He took her hand gently and looked into her eyes. "Just don't kiss or sleep with him."

Shuddering at the thought alone, Scarlett couldn't contain her laugh. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Nonchalantly Steve pulled back and quirked his head. "You did it with Brian." The grin on his lips made it obvious that he wasn't actually mad at her and was in fact just teasing her.

"And still I ended up with you," Scarlett rolled down a widow and took out a cigarette. "What can I say?" She let out a smoky breath. "Leia ends up with Han in the end."

Remembering the couple of Star Wars that he and Scarlett had dressed up as for Halloween Steve smiled, before he remembered another detail from the movie. "If Brian is Luke that would make him your brother," With a disgusted look, Steve looked at Scarlett. "Eww, inbred-- incen--cist? No wait." He pouted as he tried to remember the right word.

"Incest?"

"Yes!" Steve snapped his fingers and pointed at her with a smile.

"Me and Brian aren't related though, so it is not incest," Scarlett pointed out before taking a long drag from her cigarette. The young woman then dangled her hand out of the car window.

The young man made an 'ehh' sound and Scarlett laughed at him. The way the brunette next to him laughed caused a warmth to spread through Steve's body. In a heartbeat he would gladly spend his life with her despite only having been friends for a little over a year.

Steve Harrington had been in love a total of one time before Scarlett Henderson, he had loved Nancy Wheeler fiercely and even after she broke his heart harshly after a few too many drinks, Steve still believed he loved the Wheeler girl. His mother had said that you never truly move on from your first love, but maybe she hadn't told him the whole truth. Whilst Steve believed Nancy would always hold a place in his heart, Steve could't ever imagine getting over Scarlett. Perhaps there was something of a forever second love.

Meanwhile Scarlett was digging through the cassettes in Steve's glove compartment, partly to find a song to play on their drive and partly to make a note of which cassettes the boy already had. See it may only have been March, but Scarlett tended to take ages to make mixtapes. She cast her boyfriend a look as she turned on the radio with a Billy Joel tape.

Whilst Scarlett had always believed that her ex boyfriend had shown her love before acting like a douchebag, being with Steve proved just how little love Daniel had shown her. Even with Brian it had been different, it might have had to do with the fact that she knew Steve well. Then again, Scarlett did have a tiny crush on Steve many many years before.

The car came to a halt by a red light and Steve beamed at Scarlett who had started to sing along to 'Uptown Girl'. "Scara." At his word Scarlett stopped singing and quirked a brow at him, he leant over the centre console. Moving slow enough to give her time to move away, Steve leaned in for a kiss which Scarlett was quick to return.

A loud honk made the two teenagers pull apart giggling and they noticed that the light had long turned green. The brunet had turned into a blushing mess and he bit his lip to contain his smile as he crossed the road. Scarlett once more matched her name in colour.

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Blake swung open the door of her trailer and hopped out. "Heya Perkins!" The redhead looked over to see her neighbour, Eddie Munson, jogging up to her. She let out a groan and rolled her eyes.

The redhead turned to walk away but didn't get far before Eddit jumped in front of her with a big grin. "What do you want?" Blake demanded, her jaw set. Her harsh demeanour didn't dampen Eddie's grin in the slightest.

"You're friends with Scarlett Henderson right?" He asked to which Blake gave a slow nod. "Well, could you give me her number? I wanted to commission another drawing from her."

Blake sighed and moved to stride past Eddie and towards her Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. "Use a phonebook, or talk to her at school." The redhead unlocked her car and opened the door, but was stopped by Eddie grasping her shoulder which earned him a glare.

The boy pulled back with raised hand. "Come on man, I don't want to look through a phone book, that's boring," He groaned.

"And that's also not my problem, Munson," Blake stated as she got into her car and started it up, leaving an annoyed Eddie behind her.

The curly haired boy shook his head and kicked a discarded coke can.

After a 10 minute drive, Blake came to a halt by Robin's house and honked loudly three times before Robin Buckley ran out of her house. The dirty blonde jumped into Blake's car and the redhead drove off.

The older teen grinned. "Ready to rebel Rob?"

"More than ready," Robin quipped back. The two raced down the street as Robin disentangled her long braid, allowing her tresses to fall around her freely. Blake glanced sideways and blushed as bright as her hair.

An hour later Robin no longer had long hair but rather hair that brushed her shoulders.

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As the days blurred past, Scarlett found herself checking the mail ever day and hoping for her acceptance letter. In total Scarlett had applied to 5 nursing universities, her art collage applications had flown out of the window thanks to the Upside Down, up to that point 3 collages  had waitlisted Scarlett.

The brunette strolled back into her house, various letters in hand. "Dustin! Mail!" She called out as she closed the door behind her. She found two letters for her and three for her mother, one of those being a check to compensate the Hendersons for Bill's death.

Scarlett rushed into the living room, dropped the mail on the coffee table. "I'm going out!" She announced, already heading for the door just as Dustin got downstairs. Scarlett whisked her keys out of the bowl by the front door and jogged towards her car and drove off.

As soon as she parked, Scarlett bound out of her car and up to the front door. Excitedly she knocked on the door repeatedly until a sleepy Steve opened the door, his eyes were still half closed and hair a mess. "Scara?" Usually he would chew out whatever idiot decided to wake him on a Saturday at 9am, but before him didn't stand a random idiot but his girlfriend. "Hey." He smiled at her.

As a greeting Scarlett pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek before holding up her mail. It took a second for Steve to register before his eyes widened and he took her hand, pulling her inside.

The two teens rushed up to Steve's room and Scarlett perched on Steve's bed as he started to search his desk before producing his last letter which would tell him wether he would or wouldn't attend collage. Back in February Scarlett and Steve had agreed to open their last acceptance letters together and so there they were.

"Together?" Scarlett asked, crossing her legs on Steve's bed as he took a seat across from her. The young man nodded and repeated Scarlett's words.

They each opened their letters, Steve taking a bit longer than Scarlett so she had time to read two letters. His brown eyes traced the letters on the page and his face fell 'We regret to inform you that...'. Defeated, Steve glanced up to Scarlett, one of her letters was discarded on the bed but the other one was clutched tightly in her hands.

"Did you get in?" Steve asked softly, a hand reaching out to rest on Scarlett's knee. The brunette gasped a little at the comment and looked at Steve, a huge smile dancing on her lips.

"I'm in, I got into Indiana. Not my first choice of course, but it's something," She dropped the letter on Steve's beige comforter. "You?"

Steve's demeanour faltered and he shook his head. "Can't even get into tech," He mumbled. if only he had done his best.

Instantly Scarlett scooted closer to Steve, her knees brushing his. The young woman took her boyfriend's face in her hands, turning his head to look at her. "Hey," Their eyes met. "There's nothing wrong with not going to collage," She whispered. "How about we get some ice cream to cheer you up?"

"Doesn't matter anyway, I'll just end up working for my dad anyway," Steve rubbed the back of his neck before shaking his head and focusing on his girlfriend. He tugged the corners of his mouth up. "But you," He poked her ribs, making Scarlett let out a yelp. "Got in and we need to celebrate!" Steve exclaimed.

"Steve-" Scarlett was interrupted by Steve pressing a kiss to her nose, then to her lips and soon enough he was smothering her face in kisses. Scarlett fell back on the bed, the collage letters crinkling under her as Steve hovered over her.

They rolled over and Scarlett clutched Steve's sleep shirt and pulled him towards her so their lips connected. They had been together officially just under three months and as their kiss grew more heated, their fingers teased the edge of the other's top.

"God," Scarlett muttered as she and Steve pulled apart, both their cheeks were tinged red. Steve nudged her forehead with his own, asking her to elaborate.

"I'm good, but not that good, Scara," Steve smirked down at Scarlett who gave him a light shove against his chest. "No but seriously, what?'

Scarlett eyed him for a second, she scrunched her lips. "It's just that... Well it feels like yesterday when I was in Barb's car giving Nancy advice on you." Steve pulled back slightly and Scarlett cringed at herself. Why would she bring up his ex at a moment like this? "Sorry, probably shouldn't talk about your ex."

While it wasn't one of Scarlett's finest moments and the mood had definitely been dampened, Steve couldn't help but smile as he studied Scarlett who was looking away from him. She had that frown on her face that Steve had learned meant she was lost in thought. Instead of getting upset Steve reached out, fingers gently cupping Scarlett's cheek as he made her look.

A tiny grin found its way onto Steve's lips before he pressed a soft kiss to Scarlett's lips. "Guess I'll just have to kiss you harder so you can't think about either of our exes," Steve breathed out.

Scarlett really wished she could help it but sadly she couldn't and a giggle left her lips, making Steve's smile turn upside down. "Sorry," Scarlett laughed as she gazed at him. "Sorry, that line is just so corny." Scarlett continued to laugh at her boyfriend who was busy glaring at her.

"Sometimes you're just as annoying as that little rascal," Steve huffed as he referred to the youngest Henderson. The statement did't ease Scarlett's laughs as she hiccuped some apologies.

"So now we're mentioning my brother?" Scarlett asked, tilting her head to the side as she looked at Steve who seemed slightly horrified at his own statement. "Sorry, honey." Only allowing a few laughs to fall from her lips, Scarlett turned them around and leant forward and rested one arm on each side of him to not fall. When her face was near his, Steve looked back at her and although he tried very hard not to smile he couldn't help it.

"I'm sorry too, babe." He reached forward, kissing Scarlett. Without her noticing Steve brought his hands up to waist and turned them over so he was on top. A startled gasp left Scarlett's lips as well as a chuckle, which Steve copied before the two kissed again.

Gently Scarlett tugged Steve's shirt and pulled away from him. "This alright?" She questioned, Steve blinked at her and gave her a goofy smile with an enthusiastic nod. Steve's shirt was pulled over his and revealed a mostly hairless chest with a few tiny hairs starting to grow here and there.

"Hmm, is this okay?" Steve asked as he pulled at Scarlett's blouse. She ushered a yes and with Steve's help her top too ended up on the floor. His dark gaze swept over her and his eyes turned into hearts. "You're so beautiful," He whispered against her lips.

Scarlett smiled into the kiss. "And you're bea--" Scarlett was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening.

"Steve honey, we're home!" Steve's mom called as she and Mr. Harrington entered the house.

The two teens shared a wide eyed look before Steve scrambled off of Scarlett and towards his closet, on the way he tossed Scarlett her blouse which she quickly put on and tucked into her jeans. Noticing that Steve was about to change, she turned to the mirror on his nightstand and quickly tried to make herself look acceptable.

"Steve?!"

"Coming!" Steve shouted back as he shoved his head through a teal sweater. He snuck a glance at the mirror and let out a whine at the state of his hair.

Scarlett hopped off the bed. "Your hair looks fine."

"No it doesn't," He pouted at Scarlett, making her giggle. He frowned at her. "Dickhead."

Deciding to ignore Steve's comment Scarlett shook her head. "Do you want me to sneak out? I'll be quiet like a ninja and they won't know I was ever here."

"Nah," Steve took her hands. "I want you to meet my parents," Catching the surprised look on Scarlett's face he mentally kicked himself. "Only if you want to of course."

The Henderson girl gave Steve's hand an encouraging squeeze. "I would love too."

Steve grimaced at her word choice and beelined for the door, pulling her along with him. "Love is a big word, babe. Especially when it comes to anything involving my parents," Steve huffed and he could almost feel the apologetic eyes Scarlett gave him from behind.

"Hey Mom," Steve greeted as he entered the living room, Scarlett trailing behind him as she clutched his hand. "Dad." The boy gave a nod to a man who looked strikingly like Steve except that the man was much older.

Mrs Harrington smiled at her son and approached him to offer him a hug, Steve dropped Scarlett's hand and accepted his mother's hug. "How have you--" The rest of her sentence got caught in her throat as she spied Scarlett who offered a smile and a wave, accompanied with a 'hello'. "Who are you?" The woman pulled away slightly from Steve and gave him a questioning look.

"This is my girlfriend," Steve said, pulling away from his mother to stand beside Scarlett, he gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. As Mrs Harrington's lips started to form the name 'Nancy', Steve quickly jumped in. "Scarlett Henderson," He breathed out.

Up to that point Mr Harrington had been yet say anything, but the surname caught his attention and he stood up from the couch. He was dressed in a suit and walked with arrogance in his stride. "Henderson, hmm?" Scarlett nodded. "You're Bill Henderson's girl right?" Again the brunette nodded and Mr Harrington clicked his tongue. The two teens exchanged a confused look, but their attention was stolen by Mrs Harrington.

"Why don't we all have some brunch?" The woman asked, eyes flickering between her son and husband, who didn't answer as they continued to stare at each other.

Instead Scarlett jumped in. "That sounds nice." Mrs Harrington flashed the girl a thankful smile.

"Would you mind helping out in the kitchen?"

"Not at all." Scarlett gave Steve's arm a comforting squeeze before drifting after his mother.

Jeanne Harrington didn't fail to notice that Scarlett seemed to know where everything in the kitchen was, the blonde smiled to herself.

Truthfully the woman didn't want to accompany her husband on al his business trips, but on one of Howard's many trips he had come back with some underwear in his suitcase that did not belong to Jeanne or Howard. Before marrying Howard, Jeanne had promised herself that she would not end up one of those housewives trapped in a loveless marriage with a cheating husband. Yet there she was many years later.

"So Scarlett," Jeanne started as she grabbed a few plates. "How long have you and Steve been dating?" secretly Jeanne hoped that the couple was new and that she didn't have to feel bad about not paying that much to attention the past few months, Howard had been up for a promotion and then her mother in Chicago had been very ill.

Internally Scarlett frowned, if she and Steve had been together for a month or so she could have forgiven Jeanne's obliviousness, but Steve and Scarlett had started going out officially the day before New Years. So that was what she told the blonde and watched as the fair haired woman's face fell for a second.

The brunette moved to set the table. "How was your trip?" Scarlett questioned as she put down four plates. "Steve said you and Mr Harrington travelled to New York."

Jeanne transferred some plates containing croissants she had bought that morning, on the table. "Our trip was fine," From the obvious angry undertone in Jeanne's voice it became evident that the trip was indeed not fine.

When the older woman didn't speak after that, Scarlett sighed softly. Meeting Steve's mom could have been going a lot better. "If you don't mind me asking what part of New York did you visit? I lived near Montauk for a few years."

One of Jeanne's eyebrows shot up. As far as the woman was aware the Henderson family wasn't rich, at least not rich enough to live near Montauk, New York. Jeanne had visited Montauk on a few occasions and even she had frowned at some of the prices. "Manhatten," Jeanne replied, she gave Scarlett another once over. "Why did you live near Montauk? You don't really seem the... type." A fake smile graced the woman's lips.

Scarlett bit the inside of her cheeks. "Nearly nine years ago now, my father got a job there."

"And what does he do now?" Jeanne pressed, either not noticing or caring that Scarlett suddenly looked small.

"He's... he's..." The brunette gulped and pushed her glasses up with her thumb. "He's dead."

Taken back Jeanne pressed her lips into a thin line. "Oh," She uttered, regaining her composure. "I'm sorry."

"Thanks."

Just then Steve stormed into the room and looked around until he found Scarlett, he rushed towards her and latched onto her left wrist. "Scara, we're leaving."

A frown appeared on the brunette's face as she stopped in her tracks. "What? Why?" Steve opened his mouth to reply but spied his mother's saddened look, and so he closed his mouth again and instead gave Scarlett a silent pleading look. The young woman observed the tall brunet before her fro a second before she gave a nod. "Okay."

"Bye, Mom."

Said woman set a few steps in her son's direction. "Steve, wait! Please." Only Steve didn't wait and rushed out of the house, all but dragging Scarlett behind him.

The couple was halfway towards their cars when Steve realised that he did not in fact have his keys with him. "Do you have your keys?" He asked, looking down at Scarlett who immediately fished her keys out of the front pocket of her jeans. "You're amazing, you know that?" He offered her a smile despite his clear distress and let go of her to move towards the passenger's side.

Once both teens were in the car Scarlett started the car and pulled out of the Harrington lawn and drove onto the road. Instinctively Steve reached for the radio and turned it on, the end of some lame song crackled through.

"Steve," Scarlett's green eyes flickered away from the road to her boyfriend before focusing on the road again. "What happened?"

The boy next to the Henderson sighed and moved a hand through his un-styled hair with a groan. "My old man found our collage letters," Steve's head lulled to the side and he looked at the passing houses of his neighbours. "He was not pleased. Says he will cut me off unless I get a job before graduation..."

Immediately Scarlett's hand flew over to give Steve's knee a comforting squeeze, earning her a thankful grin in return. "That sucks," She mumbled as she took a left to get out of the rich neighbourhood.

"Hey, I'm sorry about how he acted to you," Steve spoke up, remembering how his dad reacted at the name 'Henderson'. "That wasn't cool."

"Thanks."

The lame song had come to an end and a new song had started, 'When You're Young and In Love' by the Flying Pickets started playing. Steve reached up and cranked up the volume. As the lyrics sounded through the car, Steve's gaze settled on the brunette who was driving towards her own house. A smitten look played on Steve's face.

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Friday morning came only too late and the boys and Max found themselves at school. Upon entering the school, Max had been spotted wearing pink.

"Are we sure that's your girlfriend?" Floyd whispered from Lucas' right. The two watched Max stride through the corridor, skateboard under her arm, a pink shirt hanging off her shoulders and her ginger hair in two dutch braids.

Dustin, who was on Lucas' left shook his head. "Can't be. It just can't," He muttered. Just then the redhead bound up to them with raised brows.

"What are you three looking at?" She demanded, making the three exchange a few glances before Lucas gave her a fake uncomfortable grin.

"Nothing," The three of them chimed, seconds between each answer.

Max shook her head at the three. "Stalker," She mused at Lucas before grabbing his hand and walking off.

The two Hendersons watched the couple almost skip away from them with mixed looks. "Girls are weird," Floyd breathed out, making his cousin look up at him. Dustin didn't think much of his cousin's statement and shook his head.

"And still," He paused for dramatic purposes. "I want a girlfriend."

Just then Will came staggering towards him, hands clasping his backpack straps. "Are you still convinced you'll find a girlfriend at summer camp?" The Byers boy asked.

"If I meet a girl at Camp Know Where I'll know she's perfect for me," Dustin shrugged, spreading out his hands. "She'll be intellectual, funny, pretty.."

"Why does Camp Know Where ensure she'll be funny and pretty?" Floyd questioned as the trio made their way towards first period.

In a tone that suggested that Floyd had asked the most ridiculous question of all time, Dustin answered. "Those things come naturally to the intellectual." Floyd and Will shared a silent laugh behind Dustin's back.

However deciding to change topics, Will decided to bring up something he had missed doing with his friends. "So can we play D&D tonight?" He carefully eyed his two curly haired best friends, hoping they would say yes.

Enthusiastically Floyd's eyes light up and he nodded vigorously. "Please, I've been dying for a new campaign." Will turned to Dustin expectantly and sure enough the younger Henderson cousin also happily agreed that hey should play their game.

"Do you think Lucas and Max are in?" Both Floyd and Dustin uttered yes's to Will's question. They didn't have to question if Mike would be in, because the answer was going to be no considering Mike was going to spend the evening sucking El's face off. "Great!" Will's lips tugged up even further and he nudged Floyd. "I'll call my mom so she knows what to cook."

"Thanks."

Between Floyd eating kosher, being lactose intolerant and having a mildly severe peanut allergy, the parents of the party members had long received a lecture from Judith Henderson on what her son could and couldn't eat. All of them, with the exception of Ted Wheeler, had always been considerate of Floyd's diet. Although Ted Wheeler's opinion really didn't matter considering he never cooked and probably didn't even know how to turn a stove on.

As the trio continued to push their way through the crowded hallway of Hawkins Middle School, Floyd caught a certain blonde cheerleader talking to a teacher about her kid brother. The Henderson boy made a mental note to approach her, she seemed nice enough after all.

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After school, Floyd bid his friends goodbye saying he would meet them later. He rushed towards the high school. He could be brave. If he had survived a trip to the Upside Down, surely he would survive a conversation with an unknown high schooler.

As though the universe turned in his favour, Floyd spotted the familiar blonde ponytail sweeping behind a girl clad in a cheerleading uniform. She was walking alone. Floyd's fingers brushed over his necklace before jogged up to the blonde cheerleader.

"Hey!" He approached her, trying to act casual.

The girl turned around and instantly smiled at the younger boy who stood an inch or so shorter than her. "Hi."

"I'm Floyd Henderson." He stuck out his hand for her to shake and the blonde frowned for a fraction of a moment before shaking his hand.

"Hi Floyd, I'm Chrissy Cunningham." She dropped his hand and tilted her head quizzically at him.

Eyeing her uniform one last time Floyd messed with the hem of his shirt. "Hmm, are there any boy cheerleaders here?" His voice rose four octaves and Chrissy looked slightly taken back at the unknown boy's question. Floyd peered down at the ground, if a gate to the Upside Down spontaneously opened up under him and swallowed him whole, Floyd would not be too mad.

"Not at the moment," Chrissy started and Floyd let out a soft 'oh' and got ready to stalk off before the cheerleader before him piped up. "But we could always use some. If you want I can schedule a try out for you, the girls won't mind."

Taken back by the surprisingly kind Chrissy, Floyd grew red. "Oh, I'm actually not in high school yet," He messed with the edge of his shirt again. "But I will be next year."

Chrissy let out a short laugh at him. "Okay, well let me know in time next time," The bell rang from inside the school and the blonde's eyes widened. "Oh, I have to go, but if you ever want to sit in on practice you can. We train Monday, Tuesday and Friday after four!"

"Thanks!"

The blonde turned to rush into the school but not before giving Floyd a dazzling smile. "Don't mention it!"

The Henderson boy watched the blonde rush inside with a beaming grin, he did a small fist pump before grabbing his bike.

a/n:

before we start i want to give a shout out to gameofboners who not only has
a great steve fic, but loved one of my future ideas for Scarlett in s4.

also i did listen to 'running up that hill, epic version' on repeat for like the last
half of this chapter.

now can i just say that i adore steve and scar? okay yes, thank you. as for floyd, i can't
wait to share cheerleader! floyd with all of you, that puppy boy is going to love cheer so much.
also if you have watched vol 2 you know why i included some of the characters that i did.
next chapter we get a bunch of developments in steve and scarlett's high school life. oh btw yes
the plan is fully for scar to get the hell away from hawkins as soon as she can, even if she doesn't want
to. knowing what i know that girl should be halfway across the world instead of in hawkins.

speaking of vol 2, my heart is still broken and i have no tears left ✌🏻

funny post

plssss i can't— the way steve and nancy just— ESPECIALLY NANCY
fun fact, alycia (scar's face claim) plays the drums so yk drummer scarlett anyone?
date published: 3 july 2022 (damn just realised i'm officially a month post op now)
word count: 5687