the henderson siblings were close. not as close as jonathan and will, but closer than mike and nancy. so when dustin lied throughout dinner she knew something was up. before they left for steve's, lydia called dustin outside.

"alright, what's going on?" her arms were crossed, a serious look on her face. dustin gave her a toothless grin.

"what do you mean? nothing's wrong." she raised her eyebrow in response. his smile fell as he looked down at the ground.

"fine. i just, i miss will a lot. and it's been really hard trying to deal with him missing because the guys don't really talk about it and i was the last one to see him. i just really miss him, lyds." he looked up at his sister with sad eyes, tears threatening. lydia uncrossed her arms and embraced her brother. he hugged her tightly.

"i know dusty, i'm sorry i haven't been there for you. i know this has been hard on you three. but i'm here okay? i'm here for all of you." she rubbed his back as he let out shaky breaths. he nodded. they pulled away and she pulled the tip of his hat down before shooing him inside.

what she didn't know was that her younger brother was only acting. and he was a damn good actor. but it was no longer her concern for the moment. in her eyes, her little brother was just a worried friend. she had no idea about the little girl with powers in her friend's basement. and she was oblivious to the monster that haunted the town of hawkins.

~

nancy made barb park 3 blocks away from steve's house so they rode in lydia's car for the rest of the ride there. lydia was at the harrington's often so seeing her car in the driveway wouldn't make the neighbors suspicious. as she pulled into the familiar driveway she saw her best friend's car parked on an angle and laughed. stephanie foster was a terrible driver. it was a miracle that she even made it out of her garage.

the three girls walked up to the front door, barb obviously nervous. the older henderson gave her arm a reassuring squeeze in an attempt to calm her nerves. at that moment, the doors swung open revealing steve.

"hello ladies." he greeted. lydia pushed past him to get to the backyard where he was sure to have beer and cigarettes. she greeted tommy and carol and went over to steph who was sitting on one of the loungers, a cigarette hanging loosely from her lips. she stole the cigarette and sat down next to her.

"how's it hanging?" the brunette asked, taking a long drag from the cigarette. she felt the smoke fill her lungs and exhaled, feeling satisfied. steph laughed lightly before stealing her cigarette back. "i was doing just fine until you stole my cig." she stated before handing lydia a beer.

"you know you love me." she opened her can and took a long sip, savoring the bitter taste. beer was never her favorite but it sufficed for the time being. she grabbed the pack of cigarettes that lingered on a nearby table and took one, patting herself down looking for a lighter. steve walked through the doors with the other two girls in tow.

"harrington! you got a light?" steve nodded and threw her his lighter. she caught it with one hand and lit her own cigarette, sitting back down next to her tired friend. "so how do you think your test went?" stephanie let out a long groan in response.

"i knew most of the answers but i was so tired that i fell asleep. so now i have to go in early to finish it. it's bogus." she exclaimed as she took a sip from her beer. lydia leaned her head against her shoulder as she watched steve shotgun a beer in an attempt to impress nancy. he finished it and dropped the can on the ground.

"is that supposed to impress me?" nancy questioned as he lit his cigarette. "you're not?" the brunette laughed loudly from her spot.

"come on harrington. you and i both know that you can do better than that. why don't we get some stronger stuff and i'll show you how to impress someone." she walked into the house and grabbed some vodka, preparing to get shit faced. there was a nearby beer bong and two cans of ice cold beer with her name on it. she grabbed a couple shot glasses and poured out 3 vodka shots for herself as she prepped the beer bong with the cans. she ushered steph over to help her out. "get ready to meet the queen of drinking, boys." steph added.

it's not like steve had never seen lydia drink, but he had never seen her drink like this. but lawrie took her to some good college parties in neighboring towns which taught her two things. how to handle her liquor, and how to drink like a maniac. when she first brought steph to one of the parties, she was appalled by how much the tiny girl drank. but she soon realized that not only did she know what she was doing, she was good at it.

steph held the bong up for her friend as her friend chugged it quickly, everyone chanting her on. she let out a burp, and earned applause from carol, tommy, and steve.

"that was hot, henderson." tommy whistled.

"that's my girl." steve winked. nancy scoffed at him. "you are cliche, you do realize that." steve took another drag from his cigarette.

"you are a cliche, what with your grades and your band practice."

"i'm so not in band."

"alright wheeler, show us how it's done." lydia tossed her the closed pocket knife. she smirked and shotgunned a beer, declining steve's help. everyone started to chant for her. everyone except for barb, that is. once nancy finished her beer, she looked back at her friend and offered a beer to her.

"you wanna try?" barb looked at her like she was an alien. "what? no." the others slowly pressured barb into trying it, but lydia could see how uncomfortable she was. although she enjoyed drinking she didn't believe it was for everyone.

"barb, you don't have to do it if you don't want to." steph agreed with the tipsy girl. "don't let these idiots pressure you into it." however, despite her friends wishes, nancy gave her friend a beer and the pocket knife. as barb tried to cut open a hole, the knife slipped and cut her finger. the beer dropped and lydia rushed over.

"gnarly." tommy commented. "tommy shut up." she slurred she checked out the injured girl's hand. it wasn't a super deep cut but she was definitely bleeding. even with alcohol in her system, lydia knew she had to stop the bleeding. she took barb to the bathroom as playful screams erupted from the backyard. as she rinsed her friend's hand, she hummed 'let it be' trying to lighten the mood.

"thanks for helping me, but i think i got it lyds." the taller girl grinned at her tipsy friend attempting to help her out. she was grateful that she was helping her despite the amount of alcohol she had consumed. "are you sure? i don't want to just leave you." barb nodded and gestured to the backyard.

"go be with your friends. i'll be okay. just do me a favor and make sure nancy doesn't do anything dumb while i'm in here." with a drunken nod, she stumbled back into the backyard. all the alcohol had finally caught up with her. she laid back on a lounger and smoked another cigarette as she watched all of her friends in the pool. steph was floated on her back peacefully as the rest of the teens messed around and giggled. she felt a slight pang in her chest as she watched steve and nancy chase each other around the pool. he threw his girlfriend's shoe out of the pool causing her to stumble out and grab it.

leaning her head back she took another drag and looked up at the sky. she opened her mouth and let the smoke slowly cloud her vision. she was about to take another drag before a pair of strong wet arms wrapped themselves around her and carried her too the pool. she laughed and screamed as steve jumped in with her in his arms.

prior to his little stunt, steve watched the drunk girl in awe. the smoke leaving her lips as she looked up at the stars, her black tank top that fitted her so well, her boyfriend's oversized flannel that hung off her shoulder. he was mesmerized by her. he didn't know if it was the alcohol or what, but she just looked so beautiful. lydia was always perfect, but she in that moment she seemed ethereal.