lydia henderson sat in the parking lot going over her chem notes for mr. kaminsky's test in a couple days. her walkman layed on the dashboard while the headphones covered her ears. she was so engrossed in her notes that she failed to notice the familiar figure walk up to her window. a few taps on the glass made her jump and yelp. she looked up and saw the shit-eating grin of lawrie matthews. she smirked and opened the door, giving her boyfriend a playful punch in the shoulder.

"ow, quite a swing you got there, henderson." he teased. leaning against the car, he grabbed lydia's waist, pulling her closer to him. she put her hands on his chest and pecked his lips.

"you're an ass for scaring me like that, matthews." lawrie cupped her face with one hand, keeping the other on her waist, and brought her in for a longer kiss. it was a sensation that lydia was used to, but never got tired of. when they pulled away, both teens wore a grin.

"did that make up for it?" lydia took a moment to think. "mmm, i think i need one more kiss." she stated before taking his face into her hands and kissing him again. they broke apart and stood there with their foreheads touching, just enjoying the feeling of being with one another. they eventually broke apart and the brunette got her stuff together before walking into school, lawrie's arm strewn across her shoulders.

in the time that lydia had gotten with her boyfriend, steve had become intrigued with nancy wheeler, one of her friends. she had gotten calls from steve and nancy in the same night gushing about one another. it was adorable. she accepted the calls whenever she got them, except for the one night that nancy called when lawrie was over. the phone had scared them so much that lawrie fell off the bed during their make-out session. lydia had answered the phone in a fit of giggles and told nancy that it was bad timing. she heard the full story at school the next day anyway.

"i gotta go to wycoff's class to ask about some extra work to bring my grade up." as her boyfriend's arm left her, the warmth that he englufed her with left too. "good luck, babe." they shared a peck before lawrie turned right and made his way through the halls. suddenly feeling alone, lydia looked for a familiar face in the crowd, immediately landing on nancy and barb. she walked over to the duo, joining their conversation.

"hey lydia, can you do me a favor and please tell nance that steve likes her." barb huffed. nancy scoffed in disbelief of her best friend. but it was true. steve didn't just like her, he was infatuated with her. he loved the smell of her hair, the perfume she wears, the way that she looks when she's studying, all of it. the only reason that she knew this was because steve would tell her on the daily all the things he loved about nancy. in return, she got to gush about lawrie. the pair would sit in the mcdonald's parking lot on the trunk of someone's car and talk for hours. it was a weekly occurence that started steve's sophomore year, when he was able to drive. thursday afternooon was reserved for the two. so even if they didn't have time to hang out during the week, at the very least they had their mcdonald's.

"trust me nance, he definitely likes you. i promise you that." the henderson girl assured. nancy tried to explain that it was just a couple make-out sessions and nothing more. lydia's eyebrow raised as she gestured to the note in the locker. "then what's that?" the older wheeler unfolded the note only to smirk and stuff it into one of her books. she hurriedly said goodbye to the girls and ran off toward the bathroom.

"they're so grody." the two stood next to each other as they watched their friend run to her make out session. barb giggled at her friend's remark. "totally."

~

lunch period rolled around and the group sat at their normal table. nancy sat to the right of steve, lydia on the left. he would refer to the two as 'his girl's' which was a little hard for the older henderson to hear at first due to steve's habit of calling his best friend 'my girl' for the longest time. however, she came to her senses and realized that she wasn't the only girl in his life anymore. so once she came to that conclusion, she made her peace with the situation.

"anyone wanna trade me a coke for a," tommy paused as he rustled through his paper bag. "bag of cool ranch doritos and half a packet of shark bites?" there was a pause as everyone weighed their options before lawrie eventually spoke up.

"yeah i'll get in on that action." he slid the coke to tommy while tommy slid the food over to him. after lydia and lawrie got together, the group immediately accepted him into their little clique. he was cool, funny, smart, and he was totally hot. tommy would occasionally get jealous when carol got too touchy or laughed a little too loud at his jokes. however, it was always short-lived because the matthews boy would always make it known that he only had eyes for lydia. the brunette always appreciated the gesture and would lean back into his chest often, feeling his heart beat and enjoying his warmth.

"nance, you ready for kaminsky's test tomorrow?" lydia leaned forward to look over steve, making eye contact with nancy. she shrugged. "i'm planning on studying tonight." steve leaned his head back and groaned dramatically.

"nance, you gotta relax. you're gonna do fine on your chem test, you always do." he reassured her, making the girl blush at his words. "i wish i did good on my chem tests." steph piped up next to lydia, making the table giggle.

"maybe if you studied then you would do better." lydia flicked a bread crumb at her friend, hitting her nose. "i have better things to do than study for kaminsky's class." she flipped her caramel hair over her shoulder, a hickey barely showing.

"by things do you mean kyle hall?" steve pointed at her neck as the girl's face turned red. the table burst out laughing at her expense, but she laughed it off with them anyway. steve looked over at his best friend, admiring the way she looked when she laughed. he always loved making her laugh because he loved seeing her so happy. and knowing that he was the one that made her laugh? it was the best feeling.

~

lydia walked into her empty household, her mother out of town for the night and her brother keeping himself busy at the comic book store. she threw her bag on the floor and fell facedown onto the couch. a soft mewing made her look up, coming face to face with her little baby, mews.

"hi there pretty girl, how was your day?" she pet mews as she received a purr in response. she sat up and leaned into the couch, enjoying the presence of her cat. "mine wasn't terrible. apparently will is missing which was hard to hear. i hope dustin is doing okay with this whole situation. i'm hoping that the kid just got lost in the woods and that he'll show up soon." she thought about how scared he would be, her heart hurting at the thought. she shook her head and changed the subject to avoid assuming the worse.

"lawrie left early today to go to vancouver to see his grandmother, so i'll definitely miss him but nance and barb promised to hang out with me whenever i was lonely. it'll only be 3 days so i'm sure i'll be fine. the girls took me out for some food after school which was really nice, and then i met up with tommy and carol at the convenience store. they're kinda turning into assholes though. but it's okay cause at least i have the other idiots. it was really funny, barb and i watched nance run off to the bathroom for a make out sesh with steve this morning. honestly, i'm just looking forward to thursday so i can see the idiot." she chuckled and leaned her head back, thinking about him. she hummed 'yesterday' and closed her eyes, before drifting off to sleep.

~

repetitive loud knocking abruptly woke up lydia, scaring mews off of her lap. the first thing that she noticed was that it was dark out. the second thing was that a storm had passed and she didn't even know. she begrudgingly walked to the door and opened it, getting ready to harass whoever was bothering her.

"what could you poss- harrington?" a damp steve shot her a dumb grin before barging in and making a bee-line for her room. he left a trail of puddles in the hallway as he looked for some clothes he had left in the henderson household. "hey buddy, what are you doing here so late, come on in." she said monotonously to no one. the brunette emerged from the bedroom in dry jeans, a long sleeve, and a jacket. the teen had exchanged his soaked socks for another pair that lydia had stolen from him.

he slid into the kitchen and snatched a bag of popcorn before hopping up on the counter. he swung his legs back forth while he stuffed his face, resembling a child. as the tired girl walked into the kitchen, she noticed a note on the fridge from dustin.

at mike's, not dead :)

"sorry, i know it's late but i needed to talk about some shit." he claimed with his mouth full. she looked at the clock to see that it was 10 pm. she ran her hand through her messy brown locks, wondering how she slept for 4 hours and through a storm. she gestured to the boy to continue his story. "i was just with nance and i just really like her you know. and i want her to like me too because i genuinely believe that i could love her." lydia blinked in shock. steve in love? not that it was impossible, it just seemed improbable.

"love? that's a big word for you." she hopped up on the counter next to him and took a handful of popcorn. he nodded and rested his head on her shoulder. water from steve's hair seeped through the brunette's sweater but she didn't mind. "she's perfect, lydi. what if i'm not good enough for her?" he said just above a whisper. she hopped off the counter and grabbed his free hand.

"you're one of the kindest people i know. do you have your moments when you're an ass? yes. but everyone has those. what matters is that you have a good heart. not to mention the hair." she ran her fingers through his damp brown locks, making the boy laugh. "if nancy doesn't love you then she must be out of her goddamn mind because you are as good as it gets, stevie. you will always be enough. i promise you." his eyes locked onto hers and he was immediately entranced. the beautiful brown that he had grown accustomed to, filled with sadness and determination. the eyes that have seen him at his lows and at his highs. the eyes of someone who sees him for who he really is.

"pinky promise?" he asked holding up his pinky. she let out an airy laugh at his comment. she locked pinkies with him and nodded. "pinky promise." she kissed his damp forehead and stole another handful of popcorn.

"since you're here, do you want some dinner? dustin is at the wheeler's so i doubt that he's gonna eat when he gets home." the girl stood on her tip toes as she tried to reach a box of mac and cheese. steve grabbed the box and handed it to her.

"i would love some dinner." he smacked her on the head lightly with the box before being shooed out of the kitchen. it was moments like these that he was grateful to have a best friend like lydia henderson.