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━━━━ " 📂  "

𝙋 𝘼 𝙍 𝘼 𝘿 𝙄 𝙎 𝙀

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WHEN THURSDAY CAME, Sadie had stood on the porch and waved her mother off before running off to change into her uniform to attend the shift she definitely hadn't promised Claudia Henderson - who worried she was overworking herself - she wouldn't be taking. She had left five minutes later, named badge pinned lopsided to her top and a plan to do nothing but relax and work as much as she could in the last few days before her brother arrived back from camp.

Because then the house would be loud again, and it would be way harder for Sadie to get Steve in without complaints of how gross it was that they were dating, and without the teasing when he left. In reality, Sadie missed the idiot, but she knew he would be having far too much fun at Camp Know-Where to worry himself to write or call. All in all, Sadie planned to make the most of her time without him, and make several comments about his lack of communication as soon as he stepped through the front door.

Well... not as soon as, considering she was working a shift the morning they were scheduled to be returning. But often, it was the thought that counted for Dustin and she relied on that thought as she pinned on her little name badge and took on that perfect customer service smile and got to work.

She and Steve were on different shifts. He worked the afternoon, came ten minutes earlier than he needed to and stopped by Orange Julius to stand by the counter for however long shamelessly flirting with her before he had to go take over Scoops. Of course, in response to that, when Sadie's shift ended and she made her way over to the ice cream shop she spent at least a little more time flirting with Robin over the counter until Steve chased her out under the pretence of annoyance and instead walked her to her car.

With no other commitments set for that day, Sadie was able to spend the rest of her day relaxing. And so she did; she returned home in the afternoon, cooked herself the only healthy meal she had eaten for a short while as a late lunch, and sat out on the back steps to eat it, legs in the sun getting some sort of awful tan with her mismatched socks and skirt pulled haphazardly over her thighs to try and preserve some kind of modesty should someone somehow appear in her back garden. The door to the kitchen remained open on her back, the sound of the radio her entertainment, as well as a rather hefty, many-paged book on the advancements of Russian militia, aeromechanics and aircraft that had ensured she would endure a rather awkward conversation with the librarian warning her of others thoughts on the Soviets at such a time.

It dug grooves into her knees and she grew quickly lost in what could only be considered an interesting book to her, the thought of the plane flying overhead as Steve bid her goodnight not too many days before playing on her mind. Sketches were produced as she turned to her collection of supplies within her room only once, fixation on the topic growing obsessive as the afternoon turned late and then early evening.

Sadie couldn't quite comment on how long it had been since she had gotten this deep into a subject that was entirely unrelated to a project she was doing or a novel she was reading (there was a tendency for her to need context, particularly for subjects beyond her small scope of the world from there in Hawkins), and certainly, being with Steve most days kept her grounded and stopped from the all-too suspicious part of her brain from taking over.

She remembered, distinctly, the dive into MKUltra and then, not so long after discovering such an atrocity taking place nearby, hearing the small buzz in the background of a phone call that certainly pushed her to believe that it was being listened to. In the cold of November, not so long, obsessions had divulged into her soul once more.

Most of the time it came in handy; when she figured out why the Demodogs had disappeared as well as where they had gone, but sometimes it could be a hindrance. Particularly when it was getting so late that it was beginning to get dark even in the midst of summer and she had hardly moved from the place she had sat hours before, a dirty plate discarded well in reach of a poorly placed foot and small books, diagrams and other items she already owned scattered around her perch.

And particularly when the doorbell had been ringing obsessively for the past minute and she wasn't able to tune it out anymore. Sadie only frowned in reaction to finally hearing it, glancing upwards to see the sky bleeding colours of the sun and swore quietly, collecting up her scattered items in a disorganised jumble of a pile and carrying it all inside to dump on a kitchen counter and decide where to relocate, making her way over to the front door as the bell rung once more.

When Sadie pulled the door open, she knew she shouldn't have been half-surprised to see her boyfriend standing there. Some said they spent far too much time together, but she deemed it unnecessary to produce such a comment; they were friends as well as a couple.

"Special delivery." Steve offered a slightly bashful smile, knowing his visit hadn't been arranged properly and the least he could do for interrupting her evening was produce their favourite Chinese takeaway. "I got extra fried rice."

"You know when my mom got spare keys cut? Yeah, I gave one to you for a reason." Sadie couldn't deny the edge of sarcasm to her tone, but it bit away quickly as a smile bloomed on her face. "You look so stupid," she added fondly, "come in, dickhead."

"What, you don't usually get the guy dressed as a sailor delivering?" He asked as he followed her in, kicking the door shut with the side of his shoes. "You've been missing out." Steve's eyes grazed over the coffee table covered in course catalogues before dumping the bag of food on top of them, turning to face her. "Really poor service, baby, you should complain."

"Do you think so?" Sadie blinked, all innocent, gaze meeting his as he approached. "Don't wanna get anyone fired." She hummed, feeling Steve's hands on her waist before she grinned and stood up to press a kiss to his lips. "Besides, don't need to when you come to the door dressed like this."

"I thought you liked my uniform."

"We could have this conversation three million more times and the answer would still be inconclusive," Sadie warned, watching the expression on his face. "You make it work though... not as well as Robin but-"

"What movie are we watching?" Steve interrupted, only half-heartedly though as he began towards the kitchen to retrieve some sort of soda for the both of them.

"I was thinking The Breakfast Club." Came the reply as Sadie settled on the sofa, beginning to take the food out of the bag and open up the typical rice containers so as to be able to add some of the meat to it.

"We watch that all the time though." Steve didn't think he could actually complain about it, but he might as well try, returning with a can of Dr Pepper and another of some off-brand lemon and lime.

"That's because it's good." She said. "We could watch Fame - that's another favourite - or maybe we've got a tape of a couple of episodes of The Twilight Zone or the actual movie of The Twilight Zone or... Footloose? I love Footloose."

"You also love ET, Annie, Grease, Dune, Risky Business - I like Risky Business.. and I like Animal House." Steve reeled off a list, most of it consisting of things they had watched not so long before.

"Fine." Sadie took her first mouthful of egg-fried rice and quickly chewed through it, chopstick pointing towards the small pile of movies by the TV. "I'll narrow it down. Risky Business, Fame or The Breakfast Club. Or we could go more horror and watch Jaws or The Exorcist or Nightmare on Elm Street or Carrie?"

"You should make a list," Steve suggested, watching as she actually looked like she was considering it, a thoughtful expression on her features. He smirked, the corner of his lips turning upwards as he reached for his food. "A list of all the movies you watch obsessively like your batshit crazy." He added as nothing more than a mumble - but a very audible mumble at that.

Sadie grinned, she couldn't help it. "You are so nice to me, Steve Harrington." She smiled, arms hugged over her chest.

"Thanks, I try my best."

"Also," Sadie pushed herself up from the corner of the couch she had collapsed down onto, "I picked up some more Farrah Fawcett spray for you, I noticed the can sounded a little empty when you were putting it on another day." She made her way towards her room and disappeared inside the door for a moment, returning with the familiar-looking can and throwing it to him.

"Fucking-" Steve managed to catch it, despite being caught unaware. "You didn't have to do that. i would've asked my mom to put it on the shopping list." His ears had turned pink, warm with the idea of it all.

"And risk you forgetting?" She stood beside him, leaning on the edge of the couch and watching him. "You're nothing without your hair."

"You're so kind."

"I did buy you it." Sadie pointed out, a slight grin of pride on her face as she adjusted the takeaway skilfully and purposefully, so the white plastic managed to hide what it was sitting on top  of. "And you said it yourself, it's your best feature." Over his apparent rock-hard abs, as Ally had so delightfully overheard, much to her gum-chewing distaste.

Steve hardly even recognised the slight dig, his eyes glassy and attention focused lazily elsewhere, a light sheen of warmth radiating from him. "True. It is." He hummed before his stare was broken and he sat up, picking up the plastic bag. "And you don't have to hide your course catalogues from me." Sadie paused, caught. "I know you convinced people to send them early to do all your analysis stuff because your mom told me. I'm guessing you've written many practice essays?"

"Traitor," Sadie mumbled, intent on questioning her mother on just how much information she divulged to her boyfriend - and when exactly these moments occurred. "And yes, several. I've helped enough seniors with theirs to figure out the dos and don'ts and I have a list of questions they all answered and... I think I've written everything I could ever write about.'

She slumped back in her chair; her actions a physical manifestation of the exhaustion that overtook her at only the mention of doing the essays. Sadie, honestly, couldn't be more prepared for the time in the fall when it was necessary for her to place her applications - all for early acceptance, of course - but as the forever over-achiever, it seemed compulsory for her to keep up with her practise so as to not fall out of favour in her skills.

Steve's arm enveloped her shoulders despite the heat beating through the room. "When it comes to me applying again, you've got to help me out." He said.

"I will do," Sadie replied, all too nonchalantly before realising the topic of conversation and she sat up a little. "Of course I will. You wanted to go to Purdue right?"

"Yeah," Steve confirmed although the thought of his rejection letter made him curl up a little inside. Something hopeful sparked up in him. "Do you?" He asked, stark realisation flooding him as he found he had, in a bid to keep the disappointment at his upcoming year to a minimum, that he hardly knew of his own girlfriend's choices. Although really, they seemed obvious.

"Yeah." Sadie didn't sound too convinced; no, she wouldn't be - Purdue was merely a pawn when she had the intellect to withstand the power of a queen. "Maybe an Ivy League... You know, Yale or Columbia...Harvard and MIT are always floating around up there."

"Geez, I forget how smart you are." That was a lie. A bald-faced lie. It was all he could ever think about, how smart Sadie was, how pretty she was, how incredibly amazing she was and how every single word she spoke captivated him.

"Photographic memory, Harrington."

"It's more than that and you know it." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, his finger catching beneath the hem of her shirt and circling below it, each row of stitching felt out beneath him. "You know... If you're going for Yale, then maybe I could try for somewhere in New Haven as well. Or if it's Columbia I can apply for..."

"NYU. I think you could go to NYU." Sadie had a sort of odd-looking smile on her face, as though she was finally coming to realise the truth to his feelings, that they weren't baseless as her insecurities told her. "You want to go to college in the same city as me? Or even the same state?"

"Course I do." Steve shrugged. It seemed plainly obvious to him; there was nothing he could imagine hating more than a lengthy commute between him and his girlfriend. There was absolutely no way he would be able to balance wanting to see her each and every weekend with the workload and there was nothing in a phone call. He blushed pink at the twinge of obsession. "Well... I enjoy this. I mean, you're my girlfriend. I like movie nights and eating takeout on your couch and going to parties with you and rescuing cats with you and... spending time with you is way too important to me to let go." Something tensed inside him, something indicating he was being too serious and he cleared his throat. "And you got me more hairspray." He added on, humorously.

Sadie's eyes had landed on him, wide with the wonder of it all. "That's the deal breaker, huh Sailor?" She nudged him, the nickname easing the tension out of him like it was something of a tranquilliser.

"Not really." He was oddly serious about it, indifferent to the jokey tone he had employed. Sadie knew he had every intention of doing exactly as he planned. "I know... I know I was a dick to you in the past and you've had some... what's the word... um - reservations - but I've changed." He promised, the words bitter on this ongue at the reminder of the last time he promised it.

"I know you have." She's smiling again, head tilted so strands of blonde fell in front of her face. And Steve somehow knew, just like that, that the same situation was never going to occur again, that he was going to do whatever he could to stick by her because God, she had everything he ever needed.

The smile turned to a grin, then something of a smirk as she sat forward for the pile of VCRs on the table, his hand sliding from her shoulders down to her waist where bare, soft skin between hem and waistlines greeted him. "Just like I know you won't mind me deciding to watch Fame again." Sadie pulled the tape out, waving it in front of his nose.

All seriousness left the atmosphere entirely. Steve's jaw dropped. "The Breakfast Club was a ruse?" He sounded almost entirely betrayed - it would have been fully, however she had pulled this trick at least twice before and it worked each and every time because he let it.

"Oh, you bet." Sadie went to stand up, making her way towards the TV. "I got you all distracted by The Breakfast Club so I could coerce you into watching the best film of all time and avoid the pain of the worst makeover documented in the history of film ever."

"Fine." Steve hummed. "Then we're watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off next time." He concluded. "I'll rent it from Keith."

"Good luck with that. Maybe I'll come with so he's more inclined to give you it." Steve shot her a look; both of them knew that Keith seemed to favour the blonde, for reasons Sadie didn't particularly want to suggest. There seem to be an awareness, with him, that she didn't possess; "I'll get the snacks."

Insecurity trembled within him, but he knew not to worry. "Fine." Steve agreed. "The night after I'm working late again, so I won't be able to do then."

"I'm working as well," Sadie confirmed. Something in her seriously hated that they had to schedule like this, but if they ever wanted to spend time together then it was a necessity. "Then, the day after Dustin comes home so I guess it's movie night no more. At least not here."

"How long has he been gone for? Feels like I haven't seen Dusty-buns in forever."

"About a month? Maybe five weeks?" Sadie would never admit just how much she missed her little shit of a brother, but her expression said a lot even in the darkness of the room before the movie began, and Steve placed a portion of the takeaway in her hands and shuffled closer, arm over her shoulders and holding her close.

✧

It was dark when Sadie woke up. Which was strange, because the sun set late and rose early, and almost instantly she knew she had awoken prior to the very minute her alarm had been set. And it was only a moment before she realised exactly why.

Steve was turning in his sleep, twisting in the thin covers that stuck to him so, so easily. Heat radiated off of him, a sheen of sweat bleeding into his hair. A nightmare; the ones he seemed to get every so often these days after the events they had faced. Sadie was lucky she didn't get them as well; her overthinking could have grasped ahold of them and the thoughts could have consumed her just as poorly as they did her boyfriend.

And she knew how awful they were; it was much of what she had heard from him over the course of the summer when she woke up to him tossing and turning, or curled into her side to find comfort when she was in too deep to emerge at the disturbance beside her.

"Steve." She sat up, half-asleep and still bleary-eyed. "Stevie, hey - Sailor." Saide shook his shoulder, gentle at first, then increasing in strength until he seemed to come to a little. He stilled, his arm shaking beneath her grasp. "Steve - hi."

"God." He groaned, growing more and more awake as each moment past, noted down by the sound of his heart thudding in his ears. "Fuck." Steve turned away from her, head buried in the thin covers and pillow.

Silence played between them, Steve's breathing heavy and the warmth radiating off him slowly calming and cooling.

"How... how are you feeling?" Sadie asked, tentatively and more than aware she might not have spent enough time allowing him to process it. "Shit?" She offered, and watched as he nodded, rolling over into her side and pressing tear-stained cheeks to the crook of her neck. "Tunnels?"

That was really the most common one. Or, at least, the one he told her about the most. Down in the tunnels, only half conscious after a beating, except this time he was alone in going down and the Demodogs were really Demogorgans chasing after him. He would stumble through the labyrinth, somewhat blinded in injury and people he needed to help would either be left behind or saved by the skin of their teeth.

They had had too many run-ins with the Upside Down for someone not to be semi-permanently affected by it. And it was most unfortunate that Steve, the one who had the immense, internal need to help people because it was the very most he could do, suffered from the nightmares that ruined a time of peace that he loved so much.

"Tunnels." He repeated, a groan into her neck.

"Is there anything I can do?" Sadie asked, her hand trailing up and down his bare back, fingers tracing over the freckles on his shoulder. "Anything at all." She murmured.

He shook his head, curling up into her as though the world around them wasn't swelteringly warm. "Time?" He asked, after a beat.

"Doesn't matter." He was only really concerned about her going back to sleep anyway; didn't want her to worry about him or anything else going on. "Just... relax. Deep breaths, don't think about it."

"I'll try not to." He promised her, as her fingers twisted through the ends of his messy, sleep-ridden hair. "I don't think he can go back to sleep." Steve added, as a moment passed. His eyes had closed for only a moment and all of a sudden he was right back there, and a refusal came over him.

"That's ok." Sadie replied. "We have all the time in the world. And, without my mom here we could listen to music or... I could read to you or-"

"No, just want to be with you."

"You know, when I was picking up from Eddie the other day he had some stuff for stick n pokes." Sadie murmured up an offer. "If you can't sleep... I've got a couple joints and we could give each other tattoos?" She offered. "You know, I'll get a little sailor's hat or ice cream cone with an 'S' in it and when we inevitably break up I can turn it into an 'R'."

"An 'R'?" Steve repeated.

"Yeah." Sadie nodded, the smirk on her face growing as her bare legs slipped from under her and she made her way to stand. "You know, for 'Robin', because I saw her today and-"

"Alright, alright. You have a crush on my coworker." Steve rolled his eyes.

"It's very serious. I can envision our wedding. You get to be bridesmaid."

"Maid of honour?"

"There you go." Sadie stood, watching as his head tilted back with laughter, mood ultimately lifted from the obviously meaningless chatter. "So, what do you think? Weed and tattoos?"

He looked up at her, pushing himself up to sit. "Come here." Steve asked her, an edge of something more... desperate in his tone. She shook her head and beckoned to him and watched as he easily complied, sitting beneath her. His chin came in line with her belly button and he pressed a kiss just above it, her arms cradling his head and fingers dragging through his hair. "Now relax, I've got to grab it from my car."

"Mhm. Be quick." Steve agreed, head tilting back and pouting, watching as she grinned and kissed him - an action far too quick for his liking - before disappearing into the quiet house. Restless, Steve stood himself, and in an effort to take his mind off the all-too recent nightmare, his attention drifted over to one of her desks, where work was piled high, as always.

His eyes grazed over the open book, fingers sliding below the cover and between the pages as he stood it to study the sheet of paper beneath. On it was a diagram - which wasn't quite so unusual - but his eyes flickered over the pencil markings and in the dim, amber light, he could quite easily make out an airplane.

Steve couldn't have recognised it, no matter how hastily scribbled it was, had he not seen it himself just the other evening. His girlfriend constantly put her smarts down to a photographic memory, but he never really believed her until he saw it that very moment. It was almost exactly the plane they had seen, the plane he had told her not to worry about, not to obsess over.

He had no reason to stop her obsessing, he himself was just concerned for the fact she often forgot to act like a normal human and carry out necessary tasks for her wellbeing. But when she did obsess, there was more often than not a reason for her to do just that.

In this case though, Steve couldn't exactly figure out why.