One Month Later

I see Dustin trying to to tie his bowtie in his room. I shake my head and walk inside to help him.

I swat his hands away and get to work, "Why are you so dressed up?" Dustin questions.

"I have a friend date."

"With Billy?"

"Maybe..." I look up at his hair and giggle.

"What?" He asks in annoyance.

"Nothing," I laugh, "You look great."

"Dusty, Your ride's here!" Our mom informs.

"Coming!" Dustin yells.

Dustin runs out of the room and I hear him talking excitedly. I check my makeup one more time before walking into the living room.

I look down at my high heels and smooth down my knee-length F/C dress.

I look up at the hazel eyes staring back at me, "Steve."

"H-Hey, uh, hi, Y-Y/N," Steve stammers.

I smile and push a lock of hair behind my ear.

"Okay, gross. Can we go?" Dustin interrupts.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah." Steve says awkwardly, not looking away from me.

"We should go before Steve creams--" My eyes widen and I jump forward to put my hand over Dustin's mouth to muffle the rest of his sentence.

I usher Dustin outside, "Bye, Mom!" We both yell when Steve closes the front door.

"See ya at curfew!" Dustin yells and I roll my eyes before sitting down on the porch as Steve and him pull away.

Billy pulls up and I get into the front seat, "What are we doing? Are you finally gonna tell me?"

"Nope," Billy hands me a bandana, "Put this over your eyes, sweetheart."

I look at him skeptically, "Y'know, the 'sweetheart' thing was a lot more appealing when I was drunk."

"Oh, shut it. You love it, sweetheart. Now, put the damn blindfold on."

I shake my head defiantly, "No. You gotta ask nicely."

"Fine. Put the damn blindfold on, please."

I sigh and roll my eyes before complying.

Billy drives off at an ungodly speed and I fumble for my seatbelt before fastening it over my body.

The Camaro squeals to a stop and Billy gets out of the car and walks to my side, he helps me out of it. We walk around for a bit and then I feel myself pushed down gently into a car again.

"Thanks, Hargrove," A familiar voice says and I rip the blindfold off quickly.

"Sorry, sweetheart. Had to happen sometime. You owe me, Harrington." Billy shuts the door and Steve locks it quickly. I throw my hands up in frustration before crossing my arms over my chest angrily.

"He's right. you had to talk to me at some point," Steve sighs

"I should've at least had a choice in the matter," I mumble.

"I'm sorry that I called you Nancy, and I am so sorry I overreacted about you being with Billy."

I shake my head, "I can't just forgive you. You treated me like crap."

"I know."

And made me cry."

"I know."

"And basically called me your property."

"I know."

"...I haven't slept since it happened."

"I know, Dustin told me. I haven't either."

We stay quiet until Steve speaks up again, "I miss you."

"I know," I mock quietly.

"And I love you."

"Do you really? Or did you just say it because I did? Because that's what it feels like."

Steve grabs my hands, uncrossing them, and holds them in his, "I really do love you. Promise. And according to your brother and the other kids...Friends don't lie. And you and I definitely don't lie to each other. I promise that I love you, Y/N Henderson. I always have and I always will."

I lean towards him and kiss him softly, unable to be mad anymore. The kiss gets heated quickly and I end up on Steve's lap.

Someone knocks on the window, interrupting our make out and I thank God that the windows are tinted.

I climb off of Steve and back into the passenger seat. Steve rolls down the window and Chief Hopper appears from behind it.

"Hey, Chief," Steve says politely.

"Hey, kid. You guys are blocking the entrance."

"Oh, uh, we were just making sure my brother got in safely," I smile.

"Okay," Hopper looks at Steve for a moment, "...Harrington?"

"Yes, sir?" Steve asks.

"Your, uh, your lipstick is smudged," Hopper nods and walks off and Steve looks in the rearview mirror at the red lipstick stain on his lips.

I pull the visor down and fix my makeup, "Well, that was embarrassing," I grumble as he starts the car.

We drive off down the road and I grab one of Steve's hands tightly in mine.

We pull up at the quarry and Steve gets out. He walks to my side of the car and opens the door. I step out and he puts a blanket on the hood. We climb up on the blanket and look at the stars.

"You forget how quiet it is at night when you're busy fighting interdimensional monsters," I chuckle, putting my head on his shoulder.

"Yeah," He agrees.

We sit for a few hours in silence just enjoying each other's presence.

Steve sits up and gets off of the hood, and reaches into his pocket. I stand up and walk to his side of the car.

He pulls out a black velvet box and I shake my head, "Steve..." I start panicking in my mind, I'm not ready for something as serious as this! We just got back together!

"It's not what you think," Steve assures me.

He gets down on one knee and I let out a quick breath, "It, uh, it definitely looks like what I think it is."

He opens the box, "It's a promise ring. So, it's kind of what you think...but not until we're ready. This is my promise to love you for the rest of our lives. This is my promise to stay by your side through all of the interdimensonal monster fighting. And hell, even normal stuff like, fights over me being jealous of Billy Hargrove. This is my promise, Y/N...So..."

"I.." Unable to form a coherent sentence, I nod. He puts the ring on my finger. I look at it and see what's engraved on the ring:

Y/N & Steve

Always