the sound of the phone ringing woke lydia up from her deep sleep. she frantically crawled out of steve's arms to answer the phone and was prepared to yell at whoever was calling her this early in the morning. she picked up the receiver and wasn't given a chance to speak due to a distressed nancy who was talking a mile a minute.

"lyds, you gotta meet me and jonathan at the hunting and camping store on main street in 20 minutes, we figured stuff out and i'll tell you when you get here okay love you bye." and with that she hung up. lydia didn't know what to do with this information. she just stared at the phone in confusion before putting it back in it's place and going back to bed.

"who was that?" steve groaned. he wiped the tiredness out of his eyes as he sat up and looked at his friend. she didn't want to say that it was nancy because it would cause him to question what they were doing and it would prompt him to ask if he could tag along. not that she didn't want steve there, but she doubted that he would be thrilled to see his girlfriend and best friend hanging out with jonathan byers. "uh, it was, uh, steph." she lied.

"steph is awake this early on a saturday? that's a shocker." saturday. what's so important about saturday? lydia wondered. then, it hit her. she sat up quickly, startling steve, before clumsily grabbing her phone off the table and dialing the numbers quite aggressively. the ringing made the seconds stretch out so that it felt like hours. at this point, the boy that sat in her bed was more confused than ever- but that wasn't new.

"what's happening? why did you have a seizure trying to get your pho-" she shushed him as she waited for the familiar voice on the other line.

"hello?"

"lawrie!" she exclaimed. steve's face contorted into a smile. she had forgotten that her boyfriend came home yesterday, and although he knew the situation was probably nerve-wracking for the girl, it was pretty damn funny to watch. "yeah sorry, about, uh, yesterday. i had will's funeral then there was the wake then dustin needed some help and then nancy and i hung out it was a whole thing. what? no i didn't forget. i mean, i forgot to call you because nance kept me up all night just talking about stuff and i- what? oh yeah. definitely. how about dinner? we can go to enzo's and dress all fancy and stuff. yeah. yup. okay sounds good. i'll tell nance you said hi. okay love you too. bye." she hung up the phone and sighed deeply before sinking under the covers.

"i'm a bad girlfriend." her voice was muffled from her comforter. moving the covers down so that he could see her face, steve looked her in the eye. she expected him to say something that would make her feel better about this whole situation, but she was mistaken.

"yeah you kinda are, that was smooth, forgetting he was home and all." he gave her an annoying grin to which she responded with grabbing one of her pillows and hitting him. repeatedly. they eventually moved into a position where lydia was sat on her knees next to steve who was curled up in a ball protecting his hair from the pillow.

"hope i messed up your hair, you deserve it buttmunch." however her victory was short lived because she was tackled onto the floor. she groaned as her friend landed on top of her, crushing her with his body. "i can't breathe stevie." she hit his back repeatedly, causing him to roll off her and onto the floor. they lay side by side on the ground, staring up at the ceiling that was covered in glow in the dark stars. a comfortable silence settled between them and they enjoyed this moment of peace that was a break from their normally hectic lifestyles. she took a breath and remembered all the peaceful moments that she had experienced with her best friend and was immediately thankful that she had such an outrageous spazz as a companion. she didn't know what she would do without him.

"we should probably get off the floor." steve whispered.

"let's just lay here a little longer."

~

lydia got to the hunting store when she saw her two friends checking out. they had acquired a questionable mount of traps and weapons that not only confused her, but also the cashier.

"what you kids doin with all this?" he asked nonchalantly. jonathan and nancy exchanged concerned looks and stuttered as they tried to come up with a reasonable response that wouldn't make them seem suspicious.

"monster hunting." the older henderson leaned on the counter with her forearms, giving the cashier a smile. he brushed it off and continued to ring up their supplies.

the three walked to jonathan's car with their gear piled up in their arms, ready to fight the hellish beast that they had previously encountered.

"monster hunting? that's the best you could come up with henderson?" the boy inquired as they loaded up the trunk. she shrugged.

"well you two ding dong's weren't saying anything so i had to think of something. plus i read somewhere that if you tell the truth, people are less likely to believe it." although she hid it well, lydia wanted nothing to do with the creature. every time she would close her eyes she would see the creature and she would have to constantly remind herself that she wasn't in that place. she could manage it if she was with people but when she was alone, it was really bad. after steve had left, she was getting ready when mews came into her room and nearly gave her a heart attack. she was triggered by the slightest thing and was constantly on edge, it was exhausting. but she also knew that they had to find barb and will. so if she had to suffer a little longer for them, she would.

"you know, last week, i was shopping for a new top i thought steve might like. it took me and barb all weekend. it seemed like, life or death, you know? and-and now-" jonathan interrupted her before she could finish her sentence. "you're shopping for bear traps with jonathan byers and lydia henderson." she nodded. nancy stared off as she thought about the strange scenario she had gotten herself into and how she never expected her life to take this kind of turn. the boy seemed to understand her thought process and could practically see the gears turning in her pretty little head, trying to understand what was the most bizarre aspect of this operation.

"what's the weirdest part? me or the bear trap?" he asked in a lighthearted tone.

"you. it's definitely you." they held each other's gaze for a moment which made lydia feel very out of place. she thought she saw something happening between the two before the honking of a car horn snapped the three teens out of their trances, and drew their attention away from the task at hand. as a dark red mustang drove by, reed peterson sat in the passenger seat being as dickwad-y as ever.

"hey nance, can't wait to see your movie." he wore a shit-eating grin just like every other meat head that craved popularity points. lydia stuck her middle fingers up at the boy as he drove off in response to his strange comment. at first, they were all confused. movie? it didn't make sense. but after a minute, nancy understood. she didn't say a word to the other two as she took off down the street to the movie theater.

"nancy wait!" the look of complete and utter betrayal was strewn across the older wheeler's face as she looked up at the marquee of the hawk. there it was. in big, red, spray-painted letters, for everyone in town to see. 'starring nancy the slut wheeler'. she stared up in disbelief at the horrid phrase and she felt anger bubbling up inside her. but that anger was quickly replaced with a sense of fear. she looked around frantically as people walked by, giving her a side eye and judging her.

"oh my fucking god." lydia mumbled. she wondered, who would do such a thing? why would they do something so horrid and vile purely out of spite? then, she heard it. and it seemed as if nancy heard it too. the sound of a spray can and a laughter that was all too familiar. they both turned down the alley next to the theater and there they were. tommy, carol, nicole, and steve.

"aw, hey there, princess." carol said sarcastically as the two girls stomped towards them. at this point, lydia was fuming. "shut it carol." she snapped. tears welled up in nancy's eyes as she faced her boyfriend. tommy made a snarky comment but she ignored it. this was between her and steve now, and she was heated. she brought her hand up and slapped him, causing an uproar from the teens next to them.

"what is wrong with you?" she seethed. "what's wrong with me? what's wrong with you? i was worried about you. i can't believe i was worried about you." he retaliated. lydia noticed how hurt he was. how he didn't even bother making eye contact with her. nancy defended herself but carol just had to butt in again, being the blabbermouth she is.

"i wouldn't lie if i were you. you don't wanna be known as the lying slut now, do you?" before anyone could respond lydia snapped at her again. "carol, open your mouth one more time and see what happens." she threatened. tommy immediately came to his girlfriend's rescue.

"hey," his voice was deep and serious. he meant business. "don't talk to her like that." but the older henderson wasn't going to stand back and have these bimbo's talk shit about her friend. she got up in his face, prepared to do what she had to.

"you wanna go, hagan? let's see what you got." although she was much smaller than the boy, she was so full of rage she didn't know what she was capable of in the moment. while lydia and tommy were getting ready to butt heads, steve and nancy were engrossed in their own conversation.

"look, i don't know what you think you saw, but it wasn't like that." she defended.

"what you just let him into your room to, study?" his voice was monotone, masking the hurt that he felt.

"we were just-"

"you were just what? finish that sentence." he got closer to her, lowering his voice. "finish, the sentence." nancy couldn't bring herself to come up with a plausible lie in the moment. at least not one that would give them a good reason as to why she was hanging out with jonathan in her room late at night. he scoffed.

"go to hell nancy." tears filled up her eyes and threatened to spill but she wouldn't let them. not now. not in front of them. the boy tried to pull her away, but steve wasn't done yet.

"you know what byers, i'm actually kind of impressed. i always took you for a queer, but i guess you're just a little screw up like your father." this took lydia away from her little quarrel. she grabbed her friend's arm as he pushed jonathan, trying to stop him before he did something stupid.

"steve! stop! stop!" she yelled as she tugged on him. but to no avail, he kept going. he pulled his arm out of her grip and continued to push the boy.

"oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that whole house is full of screw-ups. you know, i guess i shouldn't really be surprised. a bunch of screw ups in your family. i mean your mom, i'm not even surprised what happened to your brother. i'm sorry i have to be the one to tell you, but the byers their family is a disgrace to the entire-" but before he could finish the sentence, jonathan turned around and punched him. there was a pause as everyone took a minute to process what was happening. then, it all happened so fast. first they were on the hood of the car, then they were on the ground, then jonathan was on top of steve. once they got up, tommy tried to intervene, but he was shooed off so that the two could fight.

although steve dodged a punch and hit jonathan, he was caught off guard when he was hit full force in the jaw and fell. then lydia watched as her friend was beaten on the gravel, the entire scene happening in slow motion. but the worst part, is that she felt like he deserved it. she wasn't looking at the same kid that was laying with her on her floor this morning. it wasn't the boy who would stargaze with her whenever life became too much to bear. this wasn't her best friend. it couldn't be. she simply refused to believe it.

punch after punch was thrown and everyone was screaming at the boys. then, the cops showed up. tommy got steve up as one of the deputies tried to apprehend jonathan and the other one clutched his nose as he leaned on the car, trying to recover from an elbow to the face. in that moment, while the other cop was preoccupied, a strong grip on lydia's arm pulled her away from her two friends. she tried to resist, but that only resulted in her being thrown over a shoulder like a sack of potatoes as everyone else fled on foot. tears clouded her vision but the familiar scent that had once brought her a sense of comfort and happiness only confirmed her assumptions of who was carrying her.

once they had successfully escaped, lydia was put down. she wiped the tears away and looked at what was in front of her. carol and nicole had separated from them for the time being so she was only left with tommy and steve. her friend's face was badly beaten but she couldn't bring herself to care. she shoved his chest with all her might but it was only enough for him to stumble the slightest bit.

"are you fucking kidding me harrington? what was that?" he looked at her and his heart ached. he made her cry. his girl was crying because of what he did. but he didn't say anything. "you know how hard this was on dustin and you still brought up will? how insecure about your relationship do you have to be to call your girlfriend a goddamn slut in front of the entire fucking town? and you didn't even have the balls to do it yourself or tell these shit heads to stop!" every word she spoke dripped with anger and remorse.

"you had no right to insult him let alone his entire family. it's such a low fucking level i never thought that you would stoop to! you know, ever since you started hanging out with these poser's you've been becoming more and more of douchebag. yeah, you start doing shit for popularity points, you start trying to be someone you're not just so you can get into girls' pants, you only need me when you need someone to make you feel good about yourself or when you fuck up. and i'm always there for you like an absolute moron! i cannot believe that i genuinely cared about you!" she ranted. the last words hit steve like a train. cared. she didn't care about him anymore. his heart broke at the realization.

"no, it's not like, lydi, that you don-"

"oh, i'm so sure. because there are so many different fucking ways to interpret what just happened. you know what? fuck you, steve. fuck you. fuck you and all your little poser friends. i'm done with you and your bullshit." she turned to walk off but tommy stopped her.

"hey don't call-" he started to speak but she wasn't having it. she punched tommy in the stomach then kneed him in the groin, leaving him on the ground in a fetal position. she walked back towards the hunting store, not looking back at her ex-best friend.

if she were to look back, she would've seen the pain on steve's face when he realized what he had done. the tears that escaped and rolled down his cheeks. the emptiness that was left as she walked away. she never hit him, but the pain he felt was worse than any of the punches that jonathan had thrown. his best friend just walked out of his life, and instead of going after her, he just watched as his entire world shattered.