"so what are your plans tonight, henderson?" lawrie leaned on lydia's locker door with his forearm, boxing her in. not that she minded, of course. lawrie matthews had been interested in lydia since the middle of sophomore year, but she was not all that interested in a relationship at the time. however, it was junior year now and not only was she interested in the boy, she was ready for a relationship.

"well, i have volleyball practice until 4 but i was just planning on studying. do you have something else in mind?" she turned to face him, clutching her books to her chest and leaning against the cool metal of the lockers. with a killer smirk, he tucked her hair behind her ear causing her to blush a deep shade of red.

"i was thinking i could take you out tonight. nothing too fancy, not yet at least. just go to benny's and talk, you know? say, around 7?" lydia bit down on her bottom lip to stop herself from smiling too much. the excitement she felt became heat that caused her cheeks to flush and her palms to become sweaty.

"i think that that would be very nice. i look forward to tonight." the sound of her name being called from the end of the hallway caused the two to turn and see who had summoned the girl. of course, they locked eyes with the one and only steve harrington. lydia looked apologetically at the boy.

"i should probably attend to that, but i'll see you tonight, matthews." she gave him a wink as she ran off towards her best friend. lawrie watched her leave, eyeing her up and down before turning on his heel and walking toward class.

"what were you talking to matthews about?" steve questioned. tommy and carol stood behind him, practically attached at the hip.

"he asked me out on a date tonight." the brunette stated excitedly while bouncing on the balls of her feet. carol's jaw dropped as she wriggled out of her boyfriend's grasp to hug lydia. she had a tight grip on the girl's shoulders as she squeaked 'oh my god' repeatedly.

"tommy, why is your girlfriend having a stroke?" steve asked bluntly, leaning on a locker.

"please control her." the older henderson pleaded. tommy complied and grabbed carol by the waist, bringing her back into his arms where she relaxed.

"i'm sorry but lydia henderson finally has a date!" carol practically screamed, earning a few stares and giggles from people passing by. lydia scoffed and rolled her eyes while steve snickered from beside her, earning himself a solid punch to the arm.

"what's this about lydia getting a date?" everyone's gaze shifted to lydia's other best friend, stephanie foster. without giving the brunette a chance to speak, carol blurted out "henderson has a date with lawrie matthews!" steph raised her eyebrow in an impressed manner.

"how'd you manage that lyds?" the girl shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly as if she hadn't been crushing on this boy for the past few months. however, she failed to notice how bothered steve seemed to be by the whole situation. he didn't trust anyone with lydia, especially not lawrie freaking matthews. lydia and steve had been best friends since she was in 6th grade when they were brought together by a dodgeball injury.

during gym, an 8th grader had pegged the poor girl in the face so hard she got a bloody nose so steve was instructed to help her to the nurses office and proceeded to stay with her the rest of the class period. he talked to the injured girl about how she threw better than all the other girls and told her jokes so she wouldn't feel so terrible. he promised that he wouldn't let her get hurt like that again, and if she did he would beat up the guy who did it. he kept his word. when lydia got tripped by casey davis- an 8th grade bully, he confronted him after school and gave him a black eye. not without his own injuries of course. he had shown up to the henderson's with a busted lip, bruised cheek, and a bleeding elbow. lydia had fixed him up all by herself so her mom wouldn't tell his parents. ever since then, the two had been inseparable.

steve nudged lydia's arm and motioned away from the group who seemed engrossed in a completely different conversation. he slung his arm over the girl's shoulders, walking her to her second period class.

"listen, lydi. are you sure you wanna go out with the matthews kid? he's kind of a player." knowing that this was his way of trying to keep her safe, lydia took it easy on him.

"steve, i know you're not the biggest fan of him. but i like him, i really do. and besides, i'm a big girl now. i can handle myself on one date." she stopped walking causing steve to look at her. "plus, if anything bad happens on the date then you have my permission to beat his ass." steve looked down at the girl, giving in to her. the reality was that the idea of sharing his best friend with someone else was daunting. he's had girlfriends before but they were never serious enough that they would interfere with his friendship with lydia. she was his girl. he wasn't sure if he was ready to give up that title quite yet.

"alright, alright i trust you," he held his hands up in defeat and ran his fingers through his hair. "but you're always gonna be my girl." he brought her into a tight embrace, resting his chin on the top of her head.

"of course i will. i would never want to stop being your girl." her muffled voice came from steve's chest, making him smile. he gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head before ushering her into her classroom.

~

the date went perfectly. lawrie was an absolute gentleman from the moment he picked her up to the moment he dropped her off, giving her a quick peck on the cheek and waiting for her to get inside safe before driving off. on monday, she invited him to her volleyball game and he accepted. that afternoon, he brought her a gatorade for when she finished the game and cheered her on along with the other people in the gym, screaming 'yeah henderson!' whenever she won them a point.

however, lawrie was not the only person who cheered on the setter. steve never missed a single game, making sure to cheer on his best friend the same way she did for him during his basketball games. but once he saw lawrie matthews he had the urge to be the loudest one in the audience. he would cheer everytime she dumped the ball and would go berserk whenever she got an ace. with her boys cheering her on, the brunette felt even more confident than ever. when she got the winning point, the boys cheered simultaneously yelling 'that's my girl' which made steve's blood boil. as soon as the game concluded, steve ran up to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"you did great, henderson." they did their handshake in celebration but before steve got to say anything, lydia interrupted him. "hold that thought, harrington." she held her finger up before running over to lawrie. steve scoffed as he watched the boy give the her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. she practically melted at his touch, which bothered the harrington boy for an unknown reason. she thanked him for coming and told her she would see him tomorrow before hurrying back over and practically tackling her best friend with a hug. lydia's arms were wrapped around his neck and his arms wrapped around her waist preventing her feet from touching the floor.

"thank you for coming." she breathed into his shoulder. he let out an airy laugh before letting her down. "of course, i would never miss a game." she said a quick goodbye before running off to the locker room to shower and change. as steve left the gym, he saw lawrie walk towards his car.

"hey, matthews!" he turned around to see the king of hawkins high himself walking towards him.

"what's up, harrington?" steve eyed the boy as he got closer. he was a little shorter than him so he could take him if he needed to. but lawrie wasn't thinking about that. instead he was wondering why steve "the hair" harrington wanted to talk to him.

"listen, i know you like lydia and all and i just wanna ask that you treat her right. cause i just don't want her to end up with a broken heart." he nodded along. "don't worry harrington, i don't plan on hurting her." steve sighed with relief. he gave matthews a fist bump before running off towards his car. all he wanted to keep his girl safe. cause in the end she will always be his girl.