June 30th, 1985

Starcourt Mall

Bad idea... Very bad idea...

That was all that I could think to myself as I sat in one of the front booths of Scoops Ahoy while the girls ordered their ice cream.

It wasn't just the fact that every time I looked at Steve I felt sick to my stomach, or the fact he had yet to acknowledge my existence.

But it had gone completely over my head when Max and El asked to get ice cream, I forgot he was even working today and that defeats the whole purpose of keeping El's little outing a secret.

Looking over the top of the booth, I checked on the girls for what felt like the hundredth time, they were fine of course but it felt like Steve was taking his sweet time making their cones.

Rolling my eyes to myself, I swallowed my pride and stood from the booth on wobbly knees, I need to get over this feeling. I mean what's the worst that could happen? He ignores me more than he already is?

Coming to a stop behind El and Max, I awkwardly looked at Steve from his place behind the counter. Do I say hi? Wave and smile? Or stay silent?

As if he heard my inner torment over how to properly greet him, Steve finally looked up from the waffle cone he was working on, his hazel eyes connected with mine and...

That was it.

Before I even got the chance to send him the faintest of smiles, he had already diverted his gaze again. It felt like he stared right through me.

So I guess I was wrong, there is something worse than being ignored. It's not being acknowledged at all.

Instead of focusing on the pain in my chest, I focused on the faint whispering from the breakroom that could be heard through the closed window. It was Robin and someone else, they almost sounded like Dustin.

"Alright, two cones-"

"We got our first sentence." Robin excitedly cut Steve off as he went to hand the two girls their cones.

"Oh, seriously?" Steve quickly retreated from the counter, taking the girl's cones with him much to their dismay as they reached for the treat.

"Yeah. The week is long." Robin smirked as she disguised her voice with a thick Russian accent.

"Well, that's thrilling." Steve muttered, unimpressed with whatever that piece of information meant. "I know. But, progress." Robin grinned one final time before slamming the window shut.

"Okay, here you go, you got a strawberry and then vanilla with sprinkles, extra whipped cream." Steve spoke quickly as he turned away from the backroom to face El and Max before passing them the cones.

Muttering their thanks, the two didn't wait a second before digging into their cones.

Steve leaned against the counter with a furrowed brow as he looked down at El who looked practically unrecognizable.

"Is she even supposed to be here?" Steve questioned with a quirked brow, throwing a bored glance in my direction.

"She can do whatever she wants." I stated with a grin, lightly patting El on the shoulder before muttering to the two girls, "Go wait outside."

Steve's facial expression softened at the sound of my voice. "Crap..." He mumbled as he ran a hand through his hair nervously.

"Is that all you have to say? No other little comments?" I seethed, my pain seemed to turn into anger the minute he opened his mouth.

But somehow it even hurt to glare at him when he stared down at me with those big hazel eyes.

"I thought you'd at least call, to say you're sorry. Or that you weren't sorry. Or I don't know anything would have been better than what you did." I rambled on leaning over the counter slightly as I tried to match his height.

"Can we not do this here?" He asked through a tight-lipped smile, darting his eyes behind me as a mother and child enter the store.

"If you aren't going to do anything, then I will Steve. You have until 10." I stated, before placing a spare dollar in the tip jar. "And that's for Robin and whoever's back there with her, not you."

And with that I quickly walked out of the store while Steve called out, "Til 10 for what? Nell 'til what!"

"What did you say to him?" Max chuckled as I rejoined the two girls who seemed to be eavesdropping throughout the duration of Steve and I's chat.

"Nothing. You'll understand when you're older." I told the girl jokingly as the three of us made our way out of the crowded mall.

"Wanna trade?" Max asked El with a smirk as the three of us pushed open the mall doors, the girl quickly nodded in agreement before handing her cone off.

"That's ridiculous. Why can't I just tell her how sorry I am?" A voice stole Max and mine's attention, not much to our surprise but the smirk on Max's face told me she was gonna enjoy this.

The three boys, Mike, Will, & Lucas continued to bicker around the bike rack as they unlocked their bikes.

I guess they had been in the mall all this time with us and by the topic of their conversation, it was so Mike could buy an apology for El, also known as something that doesn't exist.

"Well, Well... Look who it is. What a surprise." Max called out to the boys sarcastically as she made her way towards them, now pulling El's attention to Mike.

Dropping his bike, Mike's jaw went slack as he connected eyes with a very confused Eleven.

"What are you doing here?" Mike questioned her first, jabbing a finger out to her much to her annoyance.

"Shopping." El stated plainly. "It's her new style. What do you think?" Max grinned at the flustered boy only for him to ignore the comment and turn to me.

"What's wrong with you? You know she's not allowed to be here." Mike stated with a furrowed brow. "What is she your little pet?" Max questioned. "Yeah, am I your pet?"

"Girls." I quickly interjected before the young teens caused more of a problem. "Mike, why have you been treating El like trash?" I questioned, that was the whole point for all of this in the first place.

"What?" Mike scoffed out. "You treat me like garbage. You said Nana was sick." El spoke softly yet her tone held an edge I had never heard in her before.

"She is." Mike stated quickly, turning to Lucas for help. "Yeah, she is..." He agreed poorly while Will stood behind them confused.

"She's super sick. That's why we're here." Lucas added quickly. "Yeah, we're not here for us. But for Nana... Also, we're here to get a gift for you."

Mike slowly began to crumble under El's stare, even though she stayed silent.

"Just, we couldn't find anything that suited you and I only have like $3.50, so it's hard." Mike confessed with a frown.

El shook her head slowly at the response. "You lie." She stated softly. "Why do you lie?" Her voice broke slightly as Mike stayed silent, staring down at the ground in defeat.

The sound of the county bus breaking behind us pulled my attention away from the teen's drama. "Guys we gotta go..." I whispered lightly.

El nodded slowly before taking a step closer to Mike, much to his confusion.

"I dump your ass." Was El's final response to Mike before turning away from the confused boy, grabbing onto Max's hand and heading towards the open doors of the bus.

"Did she just?" Mike stumbled on his words as he went to follow after her.

"Ah- You heard the girl." I stated softly, placing a hand on his shoulder to stop him in his place.

"See you at home, Will." I smiled at my brother before turning to follow after the girls. "Is now a bad time to ask to stay the night?"

~~~

It was around five when I came home to an empty house after dropping off El and Max at Hoppers' hidden home.

It really isn't unusual for no one to be home yet, but it was still a bit mentally draining.

It's nice to see Will on the couch playing video games or to hear Jonathan cooking in the kitchen while mom speaks to some neighbor over the phone.

But instead, I'm greeted by silence, little did I know that it would stay that way for the rest of the night.

I decided to let Will stay the night at Mike's since I'm sure he wanted to be there to comfort the boy but when it came to Jon and Mom, I was clueless.

Usually, they would call if they weren't gonna make it home but they never did. They didn't even leave a note.

I could feel that sinking feeling in my stomach all over again just like I did two years ago. I didn't miss this feeling.

I would be lying if I said I didn't linger by the phone for the rest of the day.

I thought he would call. Deep down I thought that he cared enough to make an effort.

But as the hour hand on my wrist watch landed on 10, I knew it was over. I guess he really was done with me, and we weren't even together yet.

Ignoring the pain in my chest and the sick feeling in my stomach I slowly got up from the table and made my way to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

The only thing on my mind the entire time was Steve, all my anger seemed to have drained out of me, leaving nothing but a mess of pain and depression.

Laying in bed I couldn't help but find myself looking towards my window in anticipation of seeing his shadow slowly grow in the light that reflected off the moon.

But nothing, I was just hurting myself every time I opened my eyes, so I took desperate measures and put on a sleeping mask in the hopes of blocking out the urge.

Just as I slipped the mask over my eyes, a fist knocking against the front door caused me to quickly jerk out of bed.

Maybe Mom or Jonathan forgot their keys and locked themselves out because they were the only ones I could think of that would be knocking on the door at this hour.

Slipping the mask onto my forehead and sliding out of bed, I made my way out of my room and down the hall, and into the living room.

"Which of you idiots locked yourselves out?" I called out teasingly as I stopped in front of the door, unlocking it with blurry eyes before opening it to reveal a shocking figure.

It was Steve... He actually used the door for once.

"I guess I'm the idiot?" He spoke shyly, one of his hands stuffed in his pants pocket while the other rested behind him, I'm not used to seeing him out of uniform anymore.

"You left this at the shop..." Steve mumbled finally after a few moments of me just staring at him in silence.

In his hand, he held out his jacket that I had left on the counter for him to take back.

Clearing my throat in the hopes of keeping my voice steady, I awkwardly leaned on the door before responding, "It's yours."

"Not anymore."

I tried desperately to stop the smile that slowly grew over my lips but I wasn't strong enough. "You're an idiot, Steve Harrington." I muttered as I carefully pulled the jacket into my hands.

"And you're beautiful, Eleanor Byers." And that was all I needed to hear.

Rolling my eyes at the soft boy in front of me, I pulled him down lightly by the collar of his shirt before lightly pecking his lips.

"Aren't you gonna invite me in first?" He asked jokingly as he tried to swoop in for a second kiss.

"Still debating on it." I lied smoothly before pulling him into the house and slamming the door behind him. "But you still have some explaining to do."