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━━━━ " 📂  "

𝙋 𝘼 𝙍 𝘼 𝘿 𝙄 𝙎 𝙀

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JUST BECAUSE THEY HAD SAVED THE WORLD yet again, Steve didn't see this as a reason to reduce the time he spent with Sadie Henderson. In fact, it meant that, whilst he wouldn't necessarily be spending evenings in her bedroom or hunting for the creature that killed her cat, he could spend all the more time with her, and he did just that.

And Sadie, although she was so set in her ways and stubborn on the idea of the stability of her emotions, needed it.

With Bob's death and finally, finally being able to mourn Barb, it was a lot, and Sadie couldn't quite deal with it alone. Her mother could only do so much and Dustin, as much of a perfectly good her brother as he was, couldn't provide that comfort she needed. Steve could, and he wouldn't hesitate to provide it to the best of his abilities.

It began at school the following Tuesday - Monday had passed in a blur of exhaustion and sleep with Claudia's only explanation being that both Sadie and Dustin had ended up crashing at Steve's the previous night along with the rest of the kids; they had had a late night and therefore it could be justified that they took the day off. That and Dustin was loud in his convictions that everyone else present would've had the day off too.

Then, when Sadie managed to drive them both to school, where the news of Bob's death was being spread around through word of mouth - Sadie had ensured her own small part in the permanent closure of the lab by calling the Hawkins Post and reporting it anonymously, then calling the police station and talking to a worn-out Hopper, who agreed with her plans and joined his deputies in their journey to Hawkin's Lab. Again. Whilst Dr Owens recovered in a private room in the hospital - and she had manoeuvred around crowds until she and Nancy were sat together in Chemistry, sat close as they tried to push through one of Kaminsky's pop quizzes.

Steve hadn't found her then but managed to spot her during lunch after seeking her out all day. She had been slowly making her way through the hallways and really wasn't trying to hide from anyone but managed to anyway, and Steve had found her limping across to her locker, questioning her inability for her to properly walk and promptly stealing supplies from the nurse's office and following her instructions to take her to some room that belonged to the Hellfire Club (which Steve found out that she had been a member of during Freshman year and therefore frequented quite often) and then patching her up again with her direct and exact words because, of course, Sadie knew exactly what to do to the large wound formed from the attack in the tunnels yet couldn't bring herself to do it.

Some guy called Eddie Munson - who Steve was sure had sold him weed one time and overcharged, and was the guy Jason on the team complained about too much - had walked in and seen the sight, but Sadie had hobbled over and spoken to him for a few moments and he left with a wave of his hand and a promise not to return until later.

After he had left, Steve had finished dressing the wound and Sadie, in the midst of thanking him, had cried.

Properly cried, like she hadn't done in years for fear of being perceived as weak, as someone who her mother and brother couldn't turn to when in need of a strong, composed figure in the midst of their problems. And he was there to comfort her, and both came to fully realise that the solace that had been felt between them throughout the course of that November's events was real, and it wasn't something they could ignore.

That had sparked something then, and now Sadie wasn't so sure she could've done without it. Steve swore he wouldn't leave her side for as long as she would allow him to stay. They would meet up before class, she would help him study in the library when he had a quiz and the pair of them began to eat lunch together when neither of them had any alternate commitments.

It just made sense. That and, well, Steve found he would do pretty much anything to cheer her up.

And when it came to the report that Nancy, Jonathan and Murray Bauman put together that revealed that the Hawkins Laboratory was behind Barb's disappearance and had been covering up her supposed death by toxic leak - Sadie especially needed that. Because very quickly, just passing the anniversary of her disappearance, Mr and Mrs Holland were planning a funeral for their daughter and as her once closest friends, Nancy and Sadie would be in attendance.

The morning of, Claudia helped her daughter get dressed. They managed to find a dress she had brought with Barb that was more than appropriate - a button-up with shorter sleeves and a crisp collar that her mom could press into a stiff point. She did her hair too, twisting back strands of the blonde into a small plait at the back of her head, and Sadie sat in front of one of her mirrors as she brushed makeup on the best she could without crying, hands shaking just a little too much for her liking.

They met up with Karen and Nancy outside of the church, sat in the same pew for the service and managed to even say a few words that they had somehow put together over the weeks. It was hard not to cry because even though they had been morning her for a year now it seemed real. Now she seemed like they were really dead. Steve was there too, which Sadie hadn't noticed before even though the majority of the time when Sadie was putting together her speech he had been there and not mentioned it.

But it was good he was there. Gave her a chance to actually get some words out and not be too afraid of passing her flower-covered casket behind her. He had stood next to her whilst they watched it be lowered into the ground, and quite easily engaged in conversation with the various family members at the service after.

"How you doing, Nance?" Sadie forced a smile as she came back to her best friend, knowing that any other expression could cause far more harm than good to her.

"It feels... surreal," Nancy replied, an arm slipped into hers as they made their way over to the small food table, picking out a couple items from the spread. "Cheese or ham?" She asked, grasping at some other type of conversation. "Cheese, right?"

"Yes please," Sadie replied, eyes drifting over the groups of people and finding Steve cornered by her mom. "Oh - crap." She muttered, taking a bite out of the corner of her sandwich. "He's gonna be there for hours, Dustin talks about him like nobody's business."

The rapid adjustment of conversation topic wasn't something Nancy didn't recognise, because after their many years of friendship it was obvious enough that Sadie's attention varied between topics. And seemingly, the entrapment of Steve Harrington in a conversation with her mom was something a lot more exciting than making her way through yet another upsetting conversation.

"You two get on really well, don't you?" Nancy hummed. A flicker of panic crossed Sadie's face; they hadn't really had that conversation yet. "It's... it's okay." The Wheeler reassured her, not entirely sure if this was the time or place for the conversation. But should it happen anywhere, it could be there. "I'm with Jonathan now, me and Steve have talked and it's just..."

"It's just us who need to talk." Sadie swallowed. "I haven't got much to say... I don't know explicitly, what I want or what he wants." Things being said in the heat of the moment didn't quite count as the outright truth, no matter if they were spoken or not at all. "We're just... friends."

"As of now," Nancy added pointedly. "Unless you don't want that?"

"I... don't know." Sadie's eyes averted, landing on something in the distance. "I'm... not sure. I don't know, really. I should go free Steve from my mom's clutches." The question had suddenly been a lot, and Nancy understood, nodding and smiling as she left.

The Henderson made to cross the room, her focus on the pair stood by one of the tables in the small room, fingers anxiously thrumming a beat against her covered thighs. She couldn't quite meet them there though because, as Steve would see as she made her way towards them, she would be accosted by a couple of Barb's relatives that she hadn't quite met before but seemingly knew plenty about her.

"My Dusty-Buns has been begging me for some hair products." Claudia was saying, her words still focused with the dull tone that should be acquired by someone attending a funeral. "I assume-" her eyes flickered upwards, "-that is your influence."

"I think it might be." He confirmed, eyes flickering over to Sadie who was now folding her arms over her stomach and tapping her fingers against where they curved at her elbow in an unmeasured pattern of pure, hurried anxiety. "I offered him some advice, and I think he's taken it to heart - which is good, because it was good advice."

"It might just be." Claudia hummed, a small smile on her face. "He struggles, you know. I think at some point last year he was bullied - he has a condition, you see-"

"Cleidocranial dysplasia." Steve finished her sentence, quite unaware of how he had actually remembered the lengthy words. His own reputation of being someone not-so-smart seemed to precede him. "Sadie told me. Several times." He smiled.

"Of course." Claudia nodded. "That girl has the memory of... well something that I think she might only be able to name."

"It's photographic," Steve said. "She remembers everything she sees." He seemed to remember every time he saw her these days, and that moment was no different as he watched the polite smile on her face consistently slip upwards and down, fingers tapping faster and faster and swallowing harshly. 

"That she does," Claudia replied. "But yes, Dusty has his medical condition and I'm afraid that it's impacted his confidence a little." Sadie's eyes were darting across the room now, they locked with Steve's for just a moment and they seemed to gleam in the light of the window he was standing next to. "And Sadie is a wonderful sister - but I suppose you know of their father's death, and with only me and Sadie it's quite hard for him to have a male figure in his life."

"Oh... I never thought of that." Steve blinked. He didn't suppose that he had such a thing either; his father was an angry man whose frequent business trips distanced himself from his family - but if he could try and provide something like that to Dustin, although he would never mention that he would be hanging out with him other than for the fact they genuinely got alone, then maybe he would do. "That's..."

He couldn't quite find the words and his gaze drifted, watching as Sadie smiled shakily at the relatives she stood before before excusing herald, hands bunching into fists as she made a beeline towards the door, pushing past the shoulder of a ginger-haired cousin too hard and apologising profusely as she went, but not daring to look back. "Can I... I need some fresh air." Steve smiled towards Mrs Henderson, who nodded and patted him on the shoulder as she went.

He made his way to the door too, slipping past everyone like they weren't even really there. Steve pulled the doors out of the small reception room that the wake had been held in and stepped outside, naturally scanning the environment around him as he was hit with the cold November air. She wasn't in view though, and instead he took a few steps forward and circled around the side, passing by the cars in the parking lot and coming to the back corner of the building.

She was crouched there, back pushed against the brick wall and head in her hands. Her shoulders were shaking, chest heaving up and down as she tried to even her breathing in quite an unsuccessful attempt.

"Sadie?" He called out, not wanting to make her jump or disturb her in any way. She didn't look up. "Hi... hi, it's me." Steve wandered over, coming to stand beside her before sliding down to sit next to her. "I saw you leave, thought you might want some moral support."

She didn't say anything for a beat, still trying to even the rise and fall of her chest. When she looked up he was still there, smiling gently and sitting beside her. "I do. I do want it." Sadie sniffed, not even really noticing how he carefully extracted his arm to wrap around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him and allowing her head to rest on him.

"Was it... was it just too much?" Steve asked, still not aware of how he really should be comforting someone like this. " Who were you talking to?"

"Her aunt and uncle. They came all the way from North Carolina. I hardly even knew they existed but... but Barb had told them all about me - about my awards, and my experiments and I just... I just..." She swallowed back tears, sniffing harshly. "It just hit me... in that moment... that I wouldn't get a chance to do that for her. That she isn't... that I can't..."

"Hey - hey." Steve stopped her before it spiralled into something all the more overwhelming. "It's okay, Henderson." He pulled her all the more closer, arm around her waist tightening and his head, hair smushed against the wall behind him, rested on top of hers. "It's okay." He repeated.

Sadie's hand wiped at her eyes furiously, embarrassed at the dissolution of the carefully applied makeup and the fact that she was crying in front of him, forcing him into comforting her yet again. "It... it didn't feel like she was dead." She admitted, in a smaller voice.

"What?" Steve murmured.

"It didn't feel like she was dead." Sadie said, a little stronger. "I sat there... with Nancy and Mrs Byers and everyone and heard El find her... her body in that place." She shook her head. "But for some reason, I didn't think she was gone."

"Because you didn't see it?"

"No - I don't need to see it. I knew that El wouldn't be wrong but... I don't know." She shook her head. "Even after everything at Halloween and with her parents and the building guilt that they were spending their life earnings on hiring someone to find their daughter who couldn't be found, I still didn't feel like she was gone."

Her voice was sticky, words slow and more stilted as she tried to calm down a little more. "It felt like she was out there, somewhere. But now it feels like she's... dead. She's actually gone."

"Yeah." Steve didn't want to be so harsh but there was nothing more he could say. "She is - and Sadie, this is a good thing. You and Nancy suffered for too long with this secret and now you don't have to have that pressure anymore."

"I know. I should be grateful for that. But... it just all came at once." She admitted, fingers pulling her sleeves over her fists and holding them to her face, her breathing coming in staggered, jilted stages. "It just hit me right then."

He nodded, tightening his grip on her all the more. A moment passed before he came to a conclusion. "Can I get something off my chest?" Steve spoke up suddenly.

"Yeah. Please. Anything."

"I... I sometimes feel guilty about it all." Steve admitted, his gaze turning blank as he settled on one of the nearby cars' number plates. "It happened in my pool, at my party - it was my beer that made her cut her finger and she had to go in. And then me and Nancy went upstairs and you... well, you were on the phone and we left her there alone."

"How were you to know that it was attracted to blood?" Sadie replied in more of a hum than anything, crying having faded back. "You can't blame yourself for that."

"It's just... her being there. That feels like my fault too."

"Yeah. And mine." Sadie admitted. He looked towards her, acknowledging that he had heard. "Me and Nance... we convinced her to go. She really didn't want to go but we made her go. And then she was attacked and we... and we lost her."

It hung between them, their admissions of their own guilt something so personal and soul-destroying that it seemed to make things a little more comforting to know that someone else was feeling similar to that.

"God, what a pair we are." Steve broke it first, shaking his head.

Steve didn't say anything, just shuffling his sleeve down and holding his hand out. Smiling, Sadie took it. And held on tight.

✧

It had started the week following. Neither Sadie nor Steve knew who had come up with it first, or how the idea had wormed its way into their heads, but all of a sudden Sadie was being woken up by knocks on her window and would wipe her eyes blearily as she helped pull Steve and his choice of breakfast through her window and into her room. He would drive her and Dustin to school, his bike in the trunk, and they would walk to class together.

First it was the bagels, again, then with a different filling. Then there were pastries, then coffee and muffins and it just kept coming. Two weeks after the funeral and it was still the same, Sadie woke up with her alarm yet couldn't bring herself to actually get up for a further twenty minutes, which was when the knock came on her window and she pulled herself away from her book - something by a Spanish author called Isabel Allende - Chilean, as Sadie corrected - in its native language of course and stood up, making her way over to the glass.

She pulled it open, a smile pushed onto her face as Steve passed over the bag and climbed in himself, knocking a trophy off as he went. "Ow - shit, sorry." He winced as he rubbed his side, eyes landing on where the trophy lay on the floor, a small spindly part broken off.

"It's fine. It'll glue.... again." Sadie reached down for it, pressing the piece back into place before setting it down on a surface. "Mews broke it ages ago. What's in the bag?"

"Donuts." Steve opened it for her, pulling her over to her bed and dragging her down into the covers. Inside the bag was a box, and a cup of coffee carefully placed beside it. "I'm assuming you haven't had breakfast."

She shook her head, opening the box and scanning its contents. "I woke up like twenty minutes ago... I'm a bit of a mess." Her eyes flickered up from the food, and narrowed. "You're giving me donuts for breakfast."

"Anything can be breakfast if you eat it in the morning," Steve replied with a tone of utmost wisdom - something that was totally unfamiliar to his voice. "And you like donuts, so therefore, you have them for breakfast."

Sadie didn't say anything for a moment before picking out a cinnamon one, taking a bite. "Good?" Steve asked. She nodded. "Good. How are you feeling today? How's the battle scar?"

"Since yesterday?" She checked, eyebrows raised. He nodded, and then she responded by taking another bite of her doughnut and then using her spare hand to hike up the bottom of her pyjama bottoms, revealing the scab that had formed on her knee, finally close to healing. "A bit better. And it's good... it's healing properly now. I think the Upside Down... gunk is all out. I'm taking the antibiotics, you know? How early are you getting up to come here before school?"

Steve faltered slightly at that. "You know, an hour or so. But it's fine - I've spent years perfecting my routine"

"And it still looks perfect every time." Sadie hummed, head tilted as she finished her last bite, using her clean hand to adjust a few of the strands, laughing as he batted her away. "Almost every time, then."

"Come on, you need to shower." Steve got up first, pulling her to her feet and pushing her towards the door. "Showered and dressed."

"Wait here a moment then," Sadie instructed and Steve got comfortable again, picking out one of the glazed donuts and settling on the bed as she picked out an outfit and disappeared from sight. He found her book amongst the covers, flicking through the pages and using the shitty Spanish classes he once took to translate a few words here and there - he couldn't even make up a sentence but here she was, reading it all.

And that in itself was one of the many reasons why he was even there at all. Steve knew that maybe it was overkill to come every morning without fail - whether he enjoyed it or not - but he knew, from knowing her and talking to Dustin and talking to her mom that Sadie Henderson wasn't easily susceptible to offered help. If he could even wedge his foot in the door, it was a good and well, he could use that to spend as much time with her as he liked.

She returned to find him drinking the coffee he brought for her, dressed in blue jeans and a sweater that Steve recognised far too well - and he would, seeing as it was his that he had leant to Sadie on the first of November. He didn't comment on it though and relinquished the coffee when she wanted it, picking out the second of his donuts, leaving a row of three behind.

Meaningless conversation followed them around as she ushered him off of her bed so that they could make it, Steve asking her more about the book and several other foreign ones he picked off the shelf. He stopped by her desk and she said something about her picking up a Mandarin textbook and something that he believed to be quite the sign of managing to slip back into normality shone back at him.

It was a design. Steve would never be able to tell anyone what it was and Sadie wasn't in the habit of making notes in legible handwriting, but it was a design all the same and below her desk was the box that Claudia had forced her daughter to tidy up all the random bits and scraps into. There were wires poking out of some circuit boards and it was evident that her soldering iron was in its place and unplugged, small unusable strips of solder discarded around it. She was making something.

"You don't need any parts of my Walkman for this, do you?" Steve asked, thumb pushing against the small sponge in the base of the soldering iron, where tiny balls of metal sat. He rolled one between his forefinger and thumb. Sadie shook her head and he watched her reach for her school bag - it was familiar now, covered in badges and patches. "Oh - you don't need that today."

Her actions faltered, a confused smile growing on her face. "No? But... what am I going to use?" Her head tilted back towards her desk, where a calendar hung and several dates were circled in red. A chipped painted fingernail jabbed at one of the days. "I have another Chemistry test coming up and I can't miss-"

"Stop lying." Steve wandered across the short space between them, a hand curling around her jaw and lifting her chin to look at her. "You'll pass that test easily and you know it. Today, we're playing hooky and we're going to go over to that animal shelter in Kerley County."

Sadie couldn't quite focus considering his hand placement. She blinked quickly and came back to her senses. "There isn't a shelter in Kerley County. There's one in the town near Pennhurst Asylum, which is on the other side of Kerley - but that's closer to Indianapolis than Kerley." She wittered on before forcing herself to stop, well aware she had repeated the same name too many times.

Steve just smiled. "You think too much." He said. "Fine - if we're not going to Kerley we're going there. We're gonna skip school and go there and get you, your mom and Dusty-buns another cat."

She stared at him then, knowing full well that what she had just heard was exactly what she had said, and she hadn't misheard him. "Another cat," Sadie repeated, her gaze searching his. "You're serious?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "Yeah, I'm serious." His hand on her cheek shifted involuntarily, only because she had smiled, cheeks pulling upwards. "A kitten, preferably, like you got with Mews - but I thought you would want to rescue one, because... you know," he fought against a slight embarrassment at how exact he remembered her words to be, "because you told me about how breeders are rather cruel and only do it for profit and they breed them for traits which will hurt them and-"

"You're right." Sadie cut him off, still smiling. "I'd rather go rescue a cat." And then she stepped away, his hand falling to his side as she discarded her school bag and instead found another one, picking a couple of bits and pieces - including her book and what looked to be some kind of manual and notebook - before turning back to him. "Let's go - and bring the donuts." She instructed.

He listened with far too much ease, prepared to do absolutely anything she told him to, which, in this case, happened to not be leaving through the window but instead following her down the hallway and through into the living room, somewhere that Steve was familiar with. He wasn't, however, familiar with the sight of Dustin sitting at the counter, spoon halfway to his mouth before stopping.

"Steve?" He frowned, eyes flickering between the boy and his sister before they remained on Sadie. "Steve? Do you just... regularly have him in your room now?"

"Hey - dude, right here." Steve shook his head, hand thrown up in a way too sarcastic wave.

"Don't care," Dustin grumbled. "I swear he usually just comes to pick us up."

"And we are very grateful for it." Sadie hummed, skirting around behind the counter and rummaging through the cupboards as she spoke. "Very. How ready are you to go?"

"I just have to brush my teeth," Dustin replied. "Did he sleep over?"

"No - no, I didn't." Steve shook his head. "I just brought coffee and broke a trophy." The younger boy looked confused. "I came through the window... again."

"Just bring him through the front door if you have to," Dustin called over the counter, to where only Sadie's blonde head could be seen bobbing up and down as she searched, eventually coming to stand up again as she shoved something into her bag. "Mom would crucify you if she knew you were dragging your boyfriend through a window when you could just have him come in normal."

Sadie looked almost panicked at that, eyes flickering over to Steve. "He's... he's not my boyfriend." She said, a conversation still much needed to happen between them that simply hadn't occurred after the final events at the start of November.

"Yeah, we're not..." Steve trailed off, offering her a smile in face of her alarm. He hadn't revisited the mention of the drive-in movies in the summer and she hadn't mentioned it either - they were too exhausted to remember properly anyway.

"Well, then I guess I'm mistaken," Dustin said somewhat snappishly as he stood up, discarding his bowl into the sink. "You just spend so much time together that anyone would think it." He evidently didn't believe them. "I'll be two minutes."

"We'll be in the care, I'll leave my keys in the door." Sadie watched as Dustin disappeared and, swearing that she wouldn't be awkward at all, turned to Steve. "Can we listen to Queen today? Or ABBA, maybe."

He followed her out the front door with an agreement to the first, the two of them sliding into the front seats of his BMW with Dustin's bike in the trunk, as usual, passing Sadie's car on the way. True to his word, Dustin was quick and out of the house in just a few minutes, passing Sadie her keys before they set off towards the schools. As usual, they stopped in the car park outside of Hawkins High, waving Dustin off as he dodged the familiar blue Camaro pulling into the lot.

Billy nodded at them when they glanced his way, the sight of him halfway passed out on the floor of the Byers' home burned into their mind. He didn't do anything else, getting out of his car and passing the usual crowd he tended to encourage way too much and now that Dustin was a safe distance away, bike below him, Sadie and Steve set off.

It wasn't necessarily a long drive, only a fraction of the distance that Sadie had travelled with Jonathan to Indianapolis a couple of years before, but there was still quite the way to go. With her feet kicked up and stretched out on the dashboard in front of her, Sadie spent the drive reading and convincing Steve to change the music every few minutes according to what she was feeling - other than the time when Steve had to have Girls on Film on several times in a row (which, despite her complains, Sadie did like and ended up singing alongside him).

As they crossed county lines and neared the rescue centre, the metal gates of Pennhurst Assylum passed them by, the majority of the actual building inside hidden by thick trees until they seemed to clear and they were given a clear view of the brick building. "That place gives me the creeps." Steve leaned forward across the wheel to get a better view, Duran Duran continue to play just as loud as it had been prior.

"It's not as bad inside." Sadie hummed. "Not quite anyway. Especially in the more... casual wards." She shrugged, her own experiences playing back to her. "There are some scarier inmates that I didn't go anywhere near. You hear horror stories, but I guess that's like any other place like that."

"Yeah..." Steve trailed off, before returning to his humming of the song playing. Sadie's reassurances for that topic seemed to do little - he knew she had visited but nothing could take away from the eerie atmosphere of the hospital and he was, ultimately, glad to see it disappear from all views.

"If everything else fails, you could always become a singer." Sadie leant back in her chair, head resting against the padding as opposed to the headrest. "You're good at it."

"You think so?" Steve forced himself to roll down the window; the atmosphere had become overwhelming... romantic. For him, anyway, and he knew he must be going crazy but as he pressed down on the pedal he was lurched forward what could be any number of years and suddenly they were leaving Hawkins behind for good with promises to come visit as many times as possible. She just looked so... pretty as she stared up at him and claimed that somehow that he could ever make music.

"100%." She replied. "No - really, I'm serious. You have this... I don't know. It's just a quality."

"You have such a way with words."

"Don't I just." Sadie was laughing now. "Sing for me, Steve." The smile might cross her face wider than most others he had seen, but the look in her eyes was completely serious. "One more song - we're almost there."

"I think I can do one more song." Steve felt her fingers brush his shoulder, using him as a slight aide to sit up. "I might have to ask you to start paying me."

"Somehow, I wouldn't be against that," Sadie said. "Now sing, Harrington."

"God, when did you get this demanding?" But he did what she said anyway, a brilliant rendition of the next Queen song that came on. They approached their destination in no time at all after that, and although Sadie was close to asking if they could stay in the car for just one more song, they ended up getting out.

And when Steve pushed open the door into the shelter, Sadie was sure of one thing - Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy was her new favourite Queen song.

However, there was a Madonna song playing within the shelter that was going to be stuck in her head for the rest of the day, so she knew she would have to savour the memory of Steve singing it until she could convince him to do it again.

There were only two other people in the shelter, a man walking through into one of the back rooms with the sound of a dog barking coming from within and the other a woman sitting behind reception with hair so curly it resembled Dustin's when he had it grown out. Steve glanced towards her and Sadie nodded, the pair of them walking forward.

"Er - good morning," Steve said, rather aware that the woman he was talking to - who they found to be called Linda - was reading the latest edition of Cosmo. "We would like to adopt a cat."

A moment passed before the woman closed the magazine and looked up. "I may be able to help with that." She replied, then glanced between the two stood with their elbows perched on the raised edge of her desk. "You two look a little young to be out of school." Her eyes narrowed for a second before they turned wide and friendly again. "Did you come a long way? Not many people visit this time of the week."

"We just graduated this summer." Sadie took the lead and smiled with just as much amiability as Linda. "We're from Hawkins, so it wasn't that far - we came the Pennhurst way."

The woman made a face, something that seemed to be a plausible reaction these days. "That's where that government lab was, isn't it?" Linda shook her head. "It was all over the news - strange town that is." She leaned forward as though gossiping with a friend. "Did you know any of the people who died?"

"I... er..." Sadie blinked.

"Sorry - sorry, I'm way too nosy, Michael back there seems to think I have a problem." Linda shook her head. Michael, evidently, wasn't wrong because she was still watching her expectantly.

"No, it's fine," Sadie reassured her, lying through her teeth. She was only spurred on by the arm that appeared around her waist. "I knew um... Barb was my best friend and Mr Newby was my friend's mom's boyfriend."

"I'm sorry for your losses." Linda looked uncomfortable, shifting in her seat before launching onto her next point. "So, what brings you here today?"

Steve stepped forward this time, leaning a little closer to draw the attention away. "Her cat died a month or so ago. "I thought I could maybe cheer her up by bringing her here and surprise her mom as well."

Linda brightened up. "Aren't you two adorable?" She might as well have squealed it, the teens in front of her retracting. "Well, there's not many people here so just wash your hands - just here - and follow me through here to our cats."

They did just that, scrubbing their hands in the rather strong-smelling soap before following Linda down corridor and then into a rather large room with two layers of cages lining each wall with a couple down the centre. "Are you looking for anything in particular?" Linda asked, dithering past a couple of cages, clicking to get their attention. "A young cat.. older cat?"

"Preferably a kitten? I'd prefer to have this one as long as possible.. Mews was only four." Sadie replied, attention taken up by a cage filled with wriggling black lumps. "How do animals come to you? Are they given in by owners.. or dumped?

"Most of our kittens are rescues," Linda replied as Sadie and Steve followed dutifully behind. "We have a couple in that we brought in from a breeder who was reported. I think there might be one you're interested in there."

They came to a stop close to the end of the room, which was a bit dimmer and quieter than earlier on. Linda unlocked the cage and Steve stood back as Sadie knelt down, knees curling up to her chest as she peered in. "Oh - they're Siamese." She peered at the pattern across the ears. "You don't get them often."

"No, no, I daresay they'll go quickly by the weekend." Linda waved her hand around. "If you're wanting one then I would suggest that you get one now instead of later. I'll leave you to get to know them - I'll be out the front if you need anything. Perhaps I should get some forms prepared?"

"Yeah, I think that would be good." Sadie nodded, picking one of the kittens up from the pile and trying to hide her smile as it wriggled around until it settled on her lap. Linda bustled off and Steve, who had been watching carefully for a reaction, quickly came to sit beside her. "What do you think, Harrington?"

"I think it's adorable." Steve was staring at it as she lifted it up for him to hold, hands shaking ever so slightly as he took it, a finger scraping between its ears. "I always thought I was more of a dog person but..."

"Who says you have to be one or the other?" Sadie grinned. "You can be both. We'll have a dog and a cat and hey - a fish too." And then she reached for another kitten, hardly noticing what she had just said.

But Steve had, and suddenly he wasn't just smiling because he had managed to make her happy anymore.

✧

"Son of a bitch!" Dustin's voice was loud enough to ring through the house, Mrs Henderson's words of protest at the language used carrying through to the bathroom, where her two children had been hogging the mirror in attempts to get ready for the past hour or so.

The new kitten that Sadie had picked out had put herself - and Steve - into Claudia's good books forever and after being named Tews in memorial of their old cat, was running past the bathroom door over to the woman who had just spoken, expecting some attention.

"Dude - calm down." Sadie shook her head. Her hand was stuck in his hair, in the midst of helping him push it up on top of his head. "It'll be in the kitchen." She dislodged her hand before exiting the door, towing her brother behind as they made their way through, passing their disapproving mother before she came to a stop. "Here." She pushed the brown paper bag into his hands, the long cylindrical can inside heavier than expected.

"Thanks." Dustin took off with it, locking himself in the bathroom despite the fact Sadie had promised to help out.

It was the Snow Ball that evening, an event that Dustin had been waiting for for quite some time now. It was that evening that he had decided to attempt to take Steve's advice with his hair and Sadie, who was destined to help out that evening after she and Nancy spoke, had managed to procure him some Farrah Fawcett spray. Steve was gonna drop them off there and maybe even stay if she could persuade him, and it was nearing the time that he was destined to arrive and Dustin was getting nervous.

Sadie, on the other hand, had been ready for a half-hour, dressed in one of the many flower-printed dresses that she usually wore in summer, tights pulled up her legs and her usual sneakers on her feet. She had picked out a matching shirt that she only buttoned to just above her waist before tying the ends behind her back, makeup done as usual and her hair halfway between its usual straight state and Dustin's curly.  She had been trying to help him, but evidently, he didn't quite need it anymore.

Nevertheless, as Dustin sped back to the bathroom to finish getting ready, clicking the lock shut behind him, the doorbell rung and nearly scared Tews out of her wits. "Dusty!" Claudia called. "That's your ride!"

"It's fine, Mom, I can get it," Sadie reassured the woman before she could even attempt to get up from her armchair. "Tews has only just settled - Dustin, do your hair." She shouted over to the bathroom and only heard a murmur of a reply back.

Sadie turned towards the door, swallowing back a sudden bundle of nerves in her throat and smoothing out her hair, pulling it open to see Steve on the porch, just about to ring the doorbell again.

"Hi..." He said it in a way with little to no finality, trialling off as his gaze drifted over her, before meeting her eyes. "Hey. You look-" beautiful, amazing, perfect, incredible, "- nice."

"Thank you." It might as well have been any other of the words, the way that Sadie smiled at him. "You look nice too - you even look semi-Christmassy."

"I thought I had to adhere to a theme just a little." Steve glanced down to the red knit sweater he was wearing over a green shirt, that wasn't really visible at all. "How's Dustin?"

"Just started doing his hair. You should come in and wait." Sadie propped the door open with the tips of her fingers, holding it for him to come through before letting it fall shut and keeping the cold out.

"Yeah, alright." He agreed before entering, making sure to wipe his shoes on the mat. Then, his gaze landed on Claudia, who raised her free hand in a wave. "Good evening, Mrs Henderson."

"Hi sweetie," Claudia smiled. "Thank you so much for doing this for Dusty-Buns again. I swear his-"

"Mom." Sadie, forever able to predict words before they came out of others' mouths, cut her off. "You don't want to embarrass him, right?"

"Right, right - of course." Mrs Henderson nodded wisely, just as aware of a growing history between the two teenaged in front of her and only hoping that she could somehow remain as neutral towards it as possible. "Can I offer you a drink? Or ask Sadie to get you one? Tews has only just settled down." Her hand stroked along the kitten's back, her purr loud enough to reach Steve by the doorway.

"Just some water, if that's okay?" Steve turned towards Sadie, who nodded and made her way to the kitchen to find him a suitable glass. "How is she settling in, by the way?"

"Oh she's good - I can't believe you found a Siamese in a shelter." Claudia hardly looked away, just a glance to be polite before she was back on her newest addition to the family.

"There was a whole litter of them.. rescued from some breeders." Steve could remember the sight clearly. "There are just some cruel people in the world." Instinctively, he turned towards Sadie. She was pouring water into a glass, nodding approvingly.

"Absolutely awful." Claudia was too distracted to actually give a full reply, and it instead came out quite half-heartedly.

"Here." Sadie passed over the glass. "Would you mind if I go check on Dustin?"

"Sure, go ahead," Steve said. "Let me know if he needs any help. I am a professional, after all."

"Of course." There was sarcasm to her words, but she was halfway serious. "I think Dustin should be honoured to have help from Steve 'the hair' Harrington."

"Is that really what they call you?" Claudia didn't hate to question it as Sadie glided past, hands ready to hammer against the bathroom door to get him to open it. It wasn't long before Mrs Henderson and Steve's pleasant conversation was interrupted by a shout from Sadie and Dustin, and the entrance of the professional himself ended up with Dustin stepping out of the bathroom with his hair looking immaculate and both Sadie and Steve opening windows and trying not to choke on the taste of hairspray.

Too much had been sprayed not on Dustin's hair, and they suffered for it.

Once Claudia's motherly fussing over how adorable Dustin looked was satiated by the taking of several polaroids - not only of him but also of Steve and Sadie, who apparently looked just as good as the boy whose dance it was - the three of them set of for Hawkins Middle School, Dustin looking far too nervous in the backseat as they approached the entrance, having spent the drive chattering nervously to the two in front of him.

"Alright, buddy, here we are." Steve came to a stop, turning in his seat. "So, remember, once you get in there-"

"Pretend like I don't care." Dustin finished, Sadie shaking her head at the return of the all too familiar advice that, at this point, she had heard several times too many.

"You don't care."

"I don't care."

"There you go. You're learning, my friend, you're learning." Steve continued on encouragingly, despite Sadie's silent remarks.

Dustin didn't say anything, instead leaning forward in his seat, holding onto the edge of Sadie's and seizing the rearview mirror and pointing it towards him. His eyes grazed over his hair, brows furrowed and Sadie, recognising the look in his eyes, moved the mirror somewhat close to where it had been.

"Come on - you look great." She reassured him. "Right, Steve?"

"Yeah, Sadie's right." The Harrington nodded. "Dude - you look great. You look... great." He held up his hand in an 'ok' symbol. "Okay? Now you're gonna go in there-"

"Yeah." Dustin adjusted his gaze towards the older boy.

"-Look like a million bucks-"

"Yeah."

"And you're gonna slay 'em dead."

"Like a lion." Dustin nodded, before doing the odd purr thing he had been doing periodically since his teeth came in.

Sadie and Steve glanced at each other. "Don't do that." His sister patted his shoulder. "Okay? Just... don't."

"Steve?"

"Yeah, don't." Steve agreed. "Okay?"

"Okay." Dustin agreed.

Steve held out his hand as he kept his body directed towards Dustin, who clapped their hands together. "Good luck." The Harrington said, Dustin nodding and turning away, pushing the back door open and sliding out.

"You coming, Sadie?" Her younger brother asked.

"Yeah." Sadie paused, then glanced towards Steve momentarily. "We'll just park the car and we'll be right there."

"What?" Steve blinked, "I'm supposed to be dropping you off."

"Yeah, well, you can come in for a bit, right?" Sadie smiled. "You don't have any plans, do you?"

"Well... no."

"Then come keep me company whilst I serve punch to preteens." Sadie's head tilted to the side, not even having to plead with him before he was nodding. "Look - there's a space there."

It was evident that Sadie had planned at least some of this because Steve pulled into the space she pointed out in one of the darker corners outside the school and as he climbed out of his seat carefully - one of the supervisors did not know how to park - she stashed her bag under her chair and with only a small purse she followed him in, arm curled into his as they avoided several cars dropping kids off.

They passed through the doors, coming to a stop by the table that was positioned between the entrance to the school and the actual gym. "Mr Clarke!" The blonde smiled, pulling Steve with her to stand closer to the desk where, evidently, the middle school teacher was signing in kids who came through with their tickets. She hadn't seen the teacher as much as she had wished other than at the funeral for Bob and a couple of other times after.

"Sadie Henderson." Mr Clarke nodded. "I trust you're keeping up with your exploration of the universe?" His gaze travelled up to where her guest was stood, hands dug into the pockets of his jeans. "And Steve Harrington, it's been a while since I've seen you. I didn't know you two were friends."

"It's a new thing." Sadie was grinning as she said it. "Well, relatively new. Pretty much since Halloween." They had, really, been friends since November the previous year, but it didn't really seem to count until they had allowed themselves to properly get to know each other after the events that had happened on the last day of October.

For Mr Clarke, it was a sight he personally couldn't believe. He was nothing but their middle school teacher - and, of course, Sadie's intellectual mentor and inspiration during that time - but he had known each of them during that time and nothing could have helped him foresee that somehow, Sadie Henderson would end up with Steve Harrington. But there was no way that Sadie would have been friends with him should he be as bad as he was in middle school and so, Mr Clarke acquired a friendly smile. "I'm glad." He said. He was feeling similarly happy that she also seemed to be quite happy after the passing of Bob Newby. "Sadie and Dustin are two of the best students I've had the pleasure of teaching."

"I bet." Of course, to Steve, this was not any surprise. His nose wrinkled in distaste. "I don't think I was that good in middle school. Well, not at anything that wasn't recess or sports or something."

"You're remembering correctly." Mr Clarke nodded. "But not to worry, Sadie can tell you everything you need to know. What are your current interests?"

"Space," Steve answered for her and watched as she encouraged him to continue. "Right? You told me about the Transit of.. of... Saturn."

"Venus." She corrected.

"And axel prediction"

"Axial precession."

"Right that." He waved away the small edits she made. "She's been telling me about that. And stuff like what's wrong about animal breeders and politics and about Pompeii and magnetic fields... a lot. She's taught me a lot."

"Oh." Sadie blinked, before the friendly smile on her face grew a little more personal. "I didn't realise you'd been listening to the entire time." Steve caught her eye, a glimmer of unwarranted admiration there and evident shock that she could even be found that interesting.

And Mr Clarke saw it too, looking between them with a shine of appreciation. "Well, in you go. Maybe Sadie can tell you about Halley's Comet." He said.

"Oh, that's a good one." Sadie nodded, excited to be given such an offer and the two of them made their way in. Jonathan, who was busy taking photos, spotted them first, sharing a wave with Sadie and a nod to Steve, something mirrored when Nancy, who had been watching her boyfriend from the punch table, saw them between too.

Now that their initial introductions were out of the way and they spotted Dustin, Mike, Lucas, Will and Max over on one side of the dance floor, they too made their way around the wooden bleachers close to the punch table, ready for Sadie to take over when Nancy needed.

"Halley's comet?" Steve repeated.

"Discovered in 1758, it's the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible from Earth." Sadie recited. "It's visible every 75 to 79 years, and the next time is supposed to be in 1986."

"Oh really?"

"It's been observed since 240 BC - 2000 years." Sadie nodded. She turned to look at him. "Do you actually find me that interesting?" She asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"I think I would actually be braindead if I didn't," Steve replied as casually as he could manage before his attention was drawn to the music playing throughout the gym. As casually as middle schoolers could, they were coming to slow dance to - of course - Every Breath You Take and Steve smiled, looking back towards her. "Come on. You're dancing."

"Oh no." A flare of panic shot through her expression. "I can tell you anything about comets or - or tadpoles, but I can't dance."

"It's nothing too complicated. This is... as easy as adding and subtracting." Steve shrugged. "It's a bit of swaying." He encouraged, not that he really needed to because she was taking his offered hand and standing right at the very edge of the gym. He pulled her closer to him, eyes shining as they reflected the silvery blue streamers that lined the walls.

She grew comfortable within seconds, his hand on her lower back usually an action of reassurance coming in handy now that he had asked her to dance with him, the usual feeling easing her nerves. "Who would've known I'd be attending the Snow Ball with Steve 'the hair' Harrington'... albeit several years later."

"Hey, I'm making up for lost time." He replied. "But you should've told me you were planning on dragging me in here." Steve continued, adjusting his hands just a little so they were more comfortable and less stiff, far too aware of his actions.

"Why?" Sadie grinned. "Did you really think I would really let you just drop me and Dusty at the door so you can go off and be all alone?"

"You make me sound so not cool."

"Not 'not-cool'." Sadie shrugged. "But why?"

"Because then I would've worn something more appropriate." Steve gestured at his jeans and sweater, rather out of place amongst everyone else. "I mean.. you - you look really pretty and-"

"So do you."

"What?"

"You look pretty," Sadie repeated, and then he was blushing. "What? You do!"

He didn't say anything then, just shaking his head and pulling her closer. They swayed in silence for a little bit before they both became more and more aware of their proximities and she leant back, only to find Steve smiling and then swinging her out, spinning her as she laughed before catching her in a hug, the sight such a cliche that it only made them laugh even more.

There was the obvious sound of someone clearing their throat and Steve looked up, past the kids to where a teacher was stood, shaking her head disapprovingly before tutting and leaning towards another teacher to voice it.

"Wow, what's Mrs Grabowski's problem?" Steve asked, having caught the woman staring.

"Where?" Sadie asked.

"I'll turn around, over my... left shoulder besides the statue thingy," Steve informed her, watching as she did as mentioned and her nose wrinkled, staring back for a moment.

"We're being too disruptive." She came to the conclusion, before coming back to look at him. "And you're holding me way too close."

"What?"

Sadie looked as though she would easily have the pleasure of recollection and informing him. "I'm surprised you don't remember it, before every dance we ever had in middle school - and that one time in high school - she goes on and makes sure everyone knows to er.. leave room for a certain someone." She said.

"So do you want me to let you go?"

"When did I say that Harrington?" Sadie couldn't have looked any happier as he squeezed her hand tighter and didn't bother to adhere to Mrs Grabowski's disapproval.

The song came to an end way too quickly, and the sight of Dustin having engaged in his very first dance with none other than Nancy Wheeler ensured that he had several options for the next one - all of which he seemed to ignore in favour of spending time with his actual friends - Sadie excused herself to man the punch table with Steve following behind, right up until he was stopped in his tracks by Dustin punching him in the shoulder.

"Hey - Dusty-buns, what was that for?" The Harrington asked, the usual sarcasm that had been void from his ultimately serious and sincere conversation with his older sister having returned now that he was talking to her brother.

"I didn't think the Max was being serious when she said you were in love with my sister!" Dustin hissed, gesturing somewhere behind him where Steve could see the group of friends - which included Eleven by now - spotting where their curly-haired companion had gone after the dance and starting to cross over to where he was stood and regroup.

"And I thought you didn't have a problem with it!" Steve replied, in a similar whisper-like tone.

"I don't." Dustin held his hands up defensively. "But it's just so obvious - you got her a cat."

"I got your family a cat." Steve corrected. "Mostly for your mom, actually."

"You got my sister out of bed and took her to a shelter to get a cat." Dustin rolled his eyes. "You also bring her breakfast and I swear I heard that you broke like five Walkmans in a week because suddenly she had an awful lot of parts."

"I'm just clumsy."

"You've watched Fame with her." He continued pointedly, despite excuses made. "I think my mom's had enough of watching Fame with her. Eric at the Family Video makes comments every time she gets it out. Fame, Steve, Fame."

"It's her favourite film." His voice was a little high-pitched and defensive as he replied, clearing his throat and averting his eyes. "She helped me with my college applications - I'm... I'm just paying it off."

Dustin's eyes narrowed, going back over the many events that he knew of about their currently growing relationship. "I don't even know what happened at Halloween but I know something did."

"Nothing happened at Halloween." Steve reiterated as it had been said many times before. "Your sister is just a lightweight."

Dustin crossed his arms. "What did she tell you about on Halloween." He asked.

"Axial precession," Steve replied.

"Don't you say axel prediction every time?"

"I'm forgetful." He shrugged.

"I don't know why you're denying it." The group had approached by now, and Max had chimed in, eyebrows raised and forgetting all about the pain in her head that came from the tight braids her mom had woven in.

Steve let out a sigh. "Neither do I, really." He admitted.

They stared for a moment, and then Dustin jumped into action. "There we go - Mike! You owe me ten - that's five for El and five for you - Will, Lucas, you can suck it, and Max.. were you involved in this?"

Steve, somewhat overwhelmed in the face of so much excitement and loudness, just followed the conversation as it went. "I did say that he was in love with her first," Max said. "I should get some credit."

"You bet on this?" Steve asked.

"Yup." Lucas looked around. "And I'm pissed I didn't get in on it before. Next one could be when he tells her?"

"Yeah." Max, who Steve noticed was now holding Lucas's hand and Dustin was making a point of not looking that way, agreed. "How long does everyone think that is?"

"Ten bucks it takes him until the end of summer." Will piped up.

"Hey - I can do it before then." Steve defended.

"Twenty he does it on Valentine's Day," Mike spoke up, glancing at Eleven to his right, who nodded, seemingly aware of the implications of such a date.

"I wouldn't do it on Valentine's Day because Sadie hates crap like that - right Dustin?" Steve inputted, looking towards Dustin.

"Right... she does." He looked almost annoyed, although happy that he seemed to know her that well. "So when would you do it, if you're waiting for a specific time."

"I don't know." Steve glanced towards the punch table, where Sadie was currently talking to a group of girls who kept looking his way as she spoke. "I haven't thought about it, I need to talk to her and maybe rescue her - and you need to enjoy your dance."

Nobody said anything for a moment, the lot of them watching as his gaze landed on the girl behind the punch bowl for far too long. "Oh geez, dude - he's obsessed. Who's coming to get punch before he turns up?" Dustin looked around them.

"And to save her from Clara Perkins and Stacey Albright?" Mike looked mildly concerned. "Yeah, we'll come." he agreed for both he and El, who was hanging onto his arm in the face of many unknown people.

"That's Carol's sister?" Steve appeared to be just as perturbed at the realisation. "Yeah, shit, I'll come."

"Steve, you're supposed to be chaperoning," Max said. "That's why you're here, right?"

"I am - I'm watching her for the chief." He pointed at Eleven, who was looking over at Sadie, who managed to spot her through the crowd of messy updos and beckoned the group over.

Steve just happened to follow very willingly.

✧

Neither Sadie nor Steve seemed to be able to feel the cold of the evening as they stumbled out of the gym of Hawkins Middle School, a little numb from it all already considering Sadie had sneaked a flash into her purse and their cups of punch had been mixed with a shot of vodka each - she had thought it necessary to get through the entirety of the evening and was proved right; Stacey and Clara seemed hellbent on finding out if she and Steve were dating after seeing them dance.

The Snow Ball of 1984 wasn't quite over yet, but the Henderson girl had been manning the punch table for the majority as Nancy and Jonathan chatted by the small area designated for Jonathan's photography whilst Steve sat with her and chatted during the boring parts and eventually, she and Nancy had swapped position and without anywhere else to go in the gym, she and Steve had decided to leave it.

"Evening, Chief." Sadie smiled, coat clutched around her dress as they passed him and Joyce, who were leaning against his police car and smoking.

"Hi, Sadie... Steve." Hopper's eyes narrowed just slightly as he saw them beside one another. "How's it been in there."

"A bit sweaty," Steve replied. "You know, all those kids stuffed into one room... it doesn't smell good."

Hopper stared at him for a moment before turning back to Sadie. "And how is she?" The Chief was, of course, referring to Eleven, who had officially become his daughter after Dr Owens obtained a doctored birth certificate. He had met Sadie, too, at the request of the girl, and had confirmed a few of the things she theorised about the Upside Down. Joyce passed the cigarette back to the police officer.

"She's good, Chief." Sadie couldn't hold back her smile at the idea of Eleven truly having a night of enjoyment. "She looks really happy to be there."

"Good... good." Hopper glanced towards the door into the dance before back at them. "Don't do anything too stupid."

"But have fun." Joyce smiled at them.

"We won't do anything stupid and we'll have fun," Sadie repeated back to them. "Don't worry." She waved the rest of their concern away with an easy, reassuring smile and pulled Steve forward towards his car.

They ended up sitting on the hood, knees touching and hands clasped as they began to feel the cold just a little, combatting with another sip from the flask and a cigarette being lit between them, Sadie using her hand to protect the flame as she did so.

"I can't remember you ever smoking." Steve watched her take a drag.

"Not very often," Sadie replied, handing over the cigarette to the boy beside her. "You smoke weed as well? That's how you know Eddie."

"Yeah. But not very often... don't tell my dad."

Her head tilted. "I'm no snitch, Harrington." She replied.

"Oh really, Henderson." Steve couldn't help but mirror the teasing tone. "Luckily for you, I never thought you were."

"You might be the first person ever to do so. Most people think I am."

His eyebrows rose. "That's because you suck up to teachers. When you really don't need to. Hell, I think Kaminsky smiled at you once." Steve said.

"I'm just using them so I can put a crap ton of recommendations on my college applications." She waved the humourous criticism away.

"Shit, I forgot about that." His nose wrinkled, a hand being pulled through his hair.

"Oh." Sadie blinked. "Sorry." They hadn't really spoken about that for a while, despite that really being the entire basis of their friendship after the whole... Halloween situation. Not quite much had changed really, Steve just found himself increasingly stressed out with every mention of it, thanks to his dad.

"No, it's fine." Steve shook his head. "Where are you thinking of going - sorry, let me rephrase that - which Ivy League?"

She shot him a look, although he was entirely right. "I don't know. Maybe Yale or Harvard? It could be Purdue for all you know. Either way, it's one of them or... and MIT and then NASA."

"NASA. Geez." Steve blew air out as he shook his head, appreciative. "So you have high hopes for yourself then?"

"If everyone else does, I don't see why I shouldn't." Sadie smiled, effectively quite confident in herself as she took another drag from the cigarette, Steve watching her with a look of silent admiration. "Really, my plan is to just get out of Hawkins. Of course, I'll visit for Dustin and Holly and the rest of them... but.. for the first thirteen years of my life I lived in a city."

"I forgot about that."

"Me too, sometimes." Steve took the last he could from the smoke as she spoke before he dropped it to the ground and reached down to squash it beneath his sneaker. "But I moved from Cincinnati when my parents got divorced, then I came here and my dad visited when he could. I wanna live in a city again, I think."

"I've never lived anywhere but here." It sounded altogether depressing when he said it, but it was the truth. His entire life had been spent there in Hawkins, the only changes coming with yearly vacations when his dad could be bothered enough.

"No?"

"Well... I've been to different places." Steve stammered out. "I went to Europe once - er - Italy, I think"

"Nice."

"Yeah, I'll show you pictures." It had been amazing, admittedly, nothing like he had ever seen before and he was sure that Sadie would enjoy it too."But most of my life has been here. I'd like to get out as well."

"And Lafayette is the answer to that?" She asked. "You haven't thought of anywhere else?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure." He turned towards her, watching as her pinkie fingers twisted together. "How did we end up talking about school of all things."

"Because I'm, for lack of a better term, a nerd... but I also happen to be pretty cool."

"You think that much of yourself?" His eyebrows rose.

She shoved his shoulder, laughing. "Shut up. I did just have Steve 'the hair ' Harrington as my date to the Snow Ball, we danced together and everything." Sadie hummed. "I can list at least twenty girls who'd kill to be in my place right now. Including a couple of pretty jealous middle schoolers"

"Twenty girls, still?"

"Come on Steve, first school now self-deprecation?" Sadie shook her head. "We are on a roll here."

"Sorry, I just find you interesting."

The darkness easily aided with the blush that scattered over her cheeks at the compliment. "And you're way more than the two-dimensional popular guy that everyone painted you out to be." Sadie nodded. "You're pretty cool."

"Only pretty cool?" Steve repeated, before getting up from where he was sitting. "I was thinking -can I give you your Christmas presents now?"

"I thought you were dropping them off on Christmas." Sadie looked minorly confused. "There's still ten days to go."

"Yeah, well I thought maybe I'd give you them now, get to see your reaction first." Steve moved around to the trunk of his car, Sadie following him with her head. "That's fine, right?"

"I'd be lying if I said I hadn't maybe hoped the same." She admitted, getting up too and making her way to the passenger door, opening it up and retrieving the bag she stashed beneath her seat. "Here." Sadie held up the bag. "Your presents."

Steve took a moment, reaching inside his trunk to get what he needed, balancing the box on his knee as he closed the lid. He was just glad he had asked his mom to wrap it for him because otherwise, he would be presenting Sadie with something that looked awful. She settled back on the trunk, her bag hanging from her shoulder.

The girl shuffled further up onto the trunk, carefully crossing her legs beneath her and extracting several things from said bag, laying them out in front of her. She looked up when Steve put down the box and tried to hide her grin at the sight of it.

"It doesn't look like a lot in comparison." Sadie glanced down at the two rectangular parcels and the envelope she was holding. "But... hopefully you'll like it. And I have more, I just couldn't carry them around in here."

"Sadie, what the hell did you get me?" Steve reached for one of them she placed down before she snatched them back.

"No no, we'll do yours first." She watched him shake his head as she put them back in the bag, sliding them over to where he was leaning.

"Fine." Steve did, admittedly, feel rather nervous about giving Sadie her gifts. He didn't want to disappoint her, especially if her gifts were as good as he thought they were going to be. Despite them only really being friends, he had this incessant need to ensure that he made her happy and anything other than that wasn't acceptable. She deserved that, at least.

He pushed the box towards her. "Well, er, you might think this is a bit stupid, but first I got you this."

Sadie thanked him before sliding a nail beneath the tape and pulling it free. The box was freed from the Santa Claus-covered wrapping paper and she admired it; it was made from glossy wood with several drawers and intricate designs. Her fingers found a small key set in the front and she twisted it, opening up the front.

A quiet tinkle of a song played through the parking lot, Sadie's eyes wide as she watched a ballerina spin in place, the lid of the inside covered in a mirror and the rest lined on pale velvet. "Steve..." Her finger ran over the edge of the box. "It's beautiful."

"It - er - it was my grandma's and she gave my mom it and she never used it because they didn't really get along. and if Tommy H ever heard me say this he would go crazy but I always thought it was.. pretty and when I came to your room I noticed you had jewellery everywhere but no box to keep it in.. so here." He offered a hopeful look as she skimmed over the delicate engravings that covered the top.

She continued to stare at it in awe, eyes wide. "Steve - it's gorgeous. Thank you - wow." Sadie clutched the box to her chest and leaned forward to wrap her spare arm around his neck, pulling him close to her. "Thank you." She added.

"Hold up there, I've got a couple more." Steve pressed a kiss into her hair before pulling back, handing her a thin parcel that turned out to be a Queen vinyl and another that was a necklace that Sadie had him clip around her neck and then finally, a set of books.

Her jaw dropped when she tore the wrapping off. "How did you know I wanted these?" She asked.

"I talked to your mom.. kinda co-ordinated presents," Steve admitted, hand rubbing the back of his neck.

"You co-ordinated presents with my mom?" Sadie repeated.

"Only so we didn't get you the same thing."

Sadie looked like she could cry with happiness, a smile blooming on her cheeks. "You're such a dork." She said.

"Oh yeah?" Steve sat up. "What did you get this dork for Christmas then?"

"I've got one stupid gift and a couple... hold on, I did stash  one in here." Steve watched as she returned to the car and retrieved another present. "I thought you were gonna see it one evening when you came over and well... the only place I could think of that you wouldn't look is in your car."

"You were right because I had no idea that was there." Steve shook his head, amazed, and he accepted it.

"Well.. that's your first one." Sadie looked just as nervous as he did, watching as he unwrapped the parcel.

His eyes grazed over the familiar cover of the Duran Duran album, eyes landing on the several swirled signatures, jaw dropped. "Holy fuck - Sadie, what the hell? How did you get this?"

"I.. er.. wrote to their manager."

"What?"

"I'm quite persuasive, you know?" She swallowed, looking more nervous about his reaction than anything else. "I called the manager as well, he was a bit of a douche but he ended up telling me that there was a load of signed things that they had sent out to stores after they were leftover. There's a store in Indianapolis that Eddie took me to in the summer after he convinced me to listen to his band at the Hideaway and I drove up." She rambled on, eyes flickering up and down as she realised he was staring at her. Then, she wafted the envelope around. "Now this is a bit of a... it's not stupid, but you can't use it until June. and you have to go to Indianapolis"

Steve stared at her in confusion, taking the envelope. "What is it, Sadie?" He muttered, not at all expecting a reply as he opened the envelope, pulling out the contents. "Sadie. What the fuck. Tears for Fears?"

Sadie bit her bottom lip to stop her from smiling - see, she quite liked giving gifts, especially if they were exactly what a person would enjoy. And Steve was staring down at two concert tickets.

Sadie's fingers twisted together out of nerves as she watched him. "You said you were a fan, and that wanted to listen to more of their stuff but they only really toured in the UK. And, well, they announced their tour and I just thought you might want to go." She shrugged. She was certainly blushing now, there was no doubt about it.

She was blabbering on whilst Steve was on the other end of the spectrum; entirely speechless. Sadie was too nervous to await his reaction and instead moved to the last one. "And as for the stupid one.. it was a very last-minute one. Just an idea I had."

She passed him the small box, Steve opened it without much to say out of fear he might just confess his love all over again. That fear only heightened when he pulled up a baseball keychain, except this one had nails hammered through.

"It is your choice of weapon after all." Sadie grinned.

Steve yanked a hand through his hair, already reaching for his keys to attach it. It clicked into place with ease and he looked back up to her, a smile across his face. "Holy shit. You're actually perfect." He announced. "Holy shit."

"I wouldn't say perfect-"

"I would though." He cut her off, absolute disbelief in his eyes as he examined his presents. "I joked about making up for lost time because I was an asshole but geez, I don't deserve this. You're insane, Henderson, veritably insane"

Sadie frowned. "What the hell? Of course you do." She rebuffed his claims. "I think... No, I'm pretty sure I get on better with you than I do anyone else, Steve. If you were a pretentious asshat I don't think that would happen."

He swallowed, unable to look at her as he filtered through his thoughts. "Did we ever agree that we weren't going to do the whole relationship thing?" He asked, completely over of the blue.

It caught her way off guard and she stared for a moment too long. "Huh? I.. er.. you said you liked me... I didn't really reply but... um... I... I..."

"Hey - it's fine." Steve seized her shoulders and pulled her towards his. "It's nothing serious, just wanna gauge your reaction on something."

"I... I don't think I can properly date anyone right now." Sadie murmured. "Everything's too much. I've never dated someone before, Steve, you have to understand that." Her voice was quiet, uncharacteristically embarrassed. 

"Of course I do," Steve replied. "I just... I do like you, Sadie. And I'm willing to wait for as long as you need. And I mean, it doesn't have to be a relationship. We can keep it casual - I am the king of casual."

She laughed at that, and the desperation that seeped through his skin to cheer her up retracted. "Oh really?" Sadie didn't sound all that convinced. "Yeah. Casual sounds good."

"Good, good." He attempted to play it off as nonchalantly as possible, swallowing back the joy in his voice. "I just wanna know if there's a clause in that whole casual agreement that allows me to kiss you."

"Oh - I don't think so." Excitement grew in the pit of her stomach, giddiness and fluttering that could only translate to Sadie one thing. "Besides, it's been over a month right, so fuck-"

But before she could finish her sentence he had kissed her, hand curling around her jaw like it had so many times before except this time he could actually follow through. Her lips were cold from the night air and she tasted of cigarettes, mint and the sickly sweetness of the punch but god it was good enough that Steve could become drunk on just that.

And she was kissing him back and he was an idiot for doing this for the first time when they were drunk because he really didn't think that he'd ever kissed someone like this, that he'd ever felt that much joy simply from that. He figured, pretty correctly, that it must be the person and it was all Sadie, who had a hand curling around the back of his neck and her fingertips grazing through the hair there that gave him that sort of floating feeling.

But then she pulled back and it was cold again, their world nothing but the dim outdoor light that flickered silently outside of Hawkins Middle School.