❁

it was up to the new trio to discover where he was and to stop him, maybe even kill him, before he could do any more damage. meadow was, as usual, extremely frustrated with the world and the fact that she was, once again, trying to stop some otherworldly creature. but, more powerful than her anger, was her desire to keep her brother safe.

dustin had been calling his friends nonstop to inform them of his findings with dart, but, still, no one seemed to answer. lucas finally picked up, understandably confused about everything that was going on. "i'll explain later," dustin said, "just meet me, meadow, and steve at the old junkyard."

"steve?" lucas questioned.

dustin didn't miss a beat, ignoring his question. "and bring your binoculars and wrist-rocket."

lucas was still confused as to why steve would possibly be involved. "steve harrington?"

"just be there, stat!" dustin ordered. "over and out."

meadow, meanwhile grabbed a bucket of meat from steve's trunk. the group intended to use the meat to lure dart to the abandoned junkyard. there, in a more open space, they could have a better advantage of fighting him.

steve closed the trunk of his car, holding his bat in one hand and a bucket of meat in the other. "are you okay?" he asked, looking to meadow.

"what do you mean?" she replied, looking up at him.

steve coughed awkwardly. "i mean.. i mean, with dart. that thing. it didn't hurt you, did it?" meadow shook her head, chuckling. "i was just checking!" steve told her.

she laughed again, not understanding why he was suddenly so protective over her. she shook the idea off, knowing that the more she thought about it, the more her anxious overthinking would ensue. she instead thought about the way that the train tracks looked; counting each nail that she stepped over as she dropped meat to the ground next to her, making a trail for the baby demogorgon to follow.

the group walked along the train tracks, sprinkling meat as they went. "alright, so, let me get this straight." steve said as they walked. "you kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl who.. you just met?"

"a girl you didn't even tell me you liked." meadow added, a bit offended that her brother didn't tell her.

dustin scoffed. "alright, that's grossly oversimplifying things."

"i mean, why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?" steve continued, dropping a chunk of meat.

"an inter dimensional slug?" dustin asked. "because it's awesome!"

steve's brows furrowed in disagreement to his statement, continuing on with his point. "well, even if she thought it was cool, which she didn't, i just.. i don't know, i just feel like you're trying too hard."

dustin pouted. "well, not everyone can have your perfect hair, alright?"

"it's not about the hair, man." steve insisted. "the key with girls is just.. acting like you don't care."

meadow looked up, confused. "even if you do?" dustin asked.

"yeah, exactly." steve pressed. "it drives them nuts."

meadow scoffed. "now let me stop you right there before you give him worse ideas." she pushed steve over so that she now stood between the two boys, looking down at her brother. "don't do anything he just said. if you act like you don't care, then she'll think you don't care."

"no!" steve insisted. "it'll drive her crazy. you wait to say anything until you feel it. that.. sexual electricity." meadow coughed, uncomfortable. "you feel that, and then you make your move."

dustin nodded. "so that's when you kiss her?"

steve seemed shocked. "no, woah, woah, slow down, romeo. sure, okay, some girls, yeah, they want you to be aggressive. you know, strong, hot, heavy, like a.. like a lion. but others, you gotta be slow, you gotta be stealthy, like a.. like a ninja."

"what type is nancy?" dustin asked, and meadow couldn't help the jealousy that pricked her. she looked over to steve to see his response, finding herself insanely curious. he was about to answer before he looked down at meadow, clearing his throat in embarrassment. "anyway, this girl is special."

meadow smiled. "aw, that's cute dustin. why don't you ask her out sometime? see if she wants to hang out. then you can get to know her better." dustin nodded in understanding, a small smile spreading across his cheeks as he thought about it.

"she's only gonna break your heart." steve insisted. "and you're way too young for that shit." he paused for a moment. "fabergé." he said, making both hendersons look a him in confusion. he then pointed to his hair. "it's fabergé organics. use the shampoo and conditioner, and when your hairs damp, not wet, okay, when it's damp, you do four puffs of the farrah fawcett spray."

meadow looked up with a small smirk. "farrah fawcett spray?"

steve blushed a little, playing it off by shaking his head, pretending to be annoyed. "pretend i didn't say anything, okay? you tell anyone i just told you that and your ass is grass, you're dead." he said to dustin.

meadow just shook her head, chuckling. "farrah fawcett spray." she repeated, steve playfully punching her arm.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

while meadow walked with the boys, she couldn't help but wonder why she had felt so jealous at the mention of nancy. it wasn't as if she was dating steve, and it wasn't as if she had any reason to be as jealous as she had been. what was wrong with her? she felt as if nothing made sense anymore. her feelings towards steve, his towards her. before, there had always been a clear and meaningful divide. they were simply two people coexisting.

a little less than two days ago, she had hated steve's guts. and now.. well, now she found herself wanting to do anything she could to never leave his side.

the trio eventually made it to the junkyard, lucas and max joining them. "that's the girl?" meadow asked dustin as she and steve stared at max.

"yeah, stop staring, it's weird." dustin mumbled, encouraging meadow and steve to start setting protection around the bus. steve poured gasoline around the expanse; they were preparing to set fire to the junkyard if dart was to show up. they'd have a better chance of just burning him up than they would to try to capture him again, they reasoned.

night came before dart did, and meadow sat on the bottom step of the bus, looking outside. she felt something on her shoulders and turned to see steve laying his jacket over them. "i thought you were cold." he explained, going to move it.

meadow stopped him, pulling the gray jacket over her shoulders. "yeah, i'm cold." she insisted, even though she probably would've been fine without the jacket, putting her arms through the sleeves and moving to sit inside the bus.

dustin, after a conversation with max that hadn't gone quite as he'd hoped, fell asleep. meadow looked at him with a small smile before looking over to steve, who was sitting next to her on the floor of the bus. "thanks. for the jacket, i mean." steve nodded, not looking up from flicking his lighter. "look, i'm sorry i've been rude to you. it's just, i always thought you were an asshole." steve sent her a look. "but.. you're cool now."

steve nodded, not sure if it was a compliment or not. ".. thanks? i guess?" he stopped flicking his lighter, briefly looking at her before looking back down at his feet. "the reason.. the reason i was so rude is because of my dad. it's no excuse, i know, but he's.. he's an asshole." he explained, and meadow looked up at him, noticing the seriousness in his face. "i think he's made me just be bitter to everyone."

meadow frowned. "hey, that isn't your fault, steve. you're better now, that's what matters." she rested her head on his shoulder, looking up at him as he continued.

"when nancy and i.. when we.." he struggled to find the right words. "when she said that she didn't love me, i thought it was the end of the world. i thought that i would be devastated, that i'd do anything to fight for her to love me again." meadow furrowed a brow, wondering what he was talking about. "but, even though i was sad, i guess, because i'd been dumped.. i wasn't actually sad."

"steve," meadow said, putting her hands into the pockets of his jacket, "what are you saying?"

he looked down at her. "i wasn't sad about nancy, because i'd actually been in love with someone else the entire time."

meadow looked down. "oh." she nodded, lifting her head off his shoulder. "she's.. she's one lucky girl to have king steve. you're a hero, you know." she bit the inside of her cheek, moving to stand up.

steve grabbed her hand, pulling her back down. "i was talking about you." he said, scanning her eyes for her reaction.

meadow then wondered if this was it. if this was why she'd felt so protective over him, and him over her. if this was why she hadn't wanted him to be with nancy in the first place, or why he was the first person she wanted to see at school. had this been the reason she never wanted to date anyone? the reason she'd managed to convince herself that she hated him? had it all been building up to this moment, to a realization that she didn't think she was ready to fully confront?

she could see how genuine he looked about it, and she then thought back to middle school. "what do you mean, the entire time?" she asked. "when you were with nancy, the whole time, you..?"

he cleared his throat. "i.. i guess i've always.." he seemed to be searching for the right words. "i guess i've always had feelings for you, since we were twelve, maybe. but i thought you hated me, until, well, halloween. and so i.. i never told you. but being here with you, getting to talk to you, getting to see the real you.. yeah. yeah, i think i'm starting to fall for you."

meadow didn't have time to think about this, or to process this confession. her mind was spinning with questions, mainly ones about nancy, but the only thing that her mind kept screaming at her was how stupid she'd been to push him away, how blind she was to her own feelings.

the guy she'd liked since middle school liked her back, and supposedly had felt that way just as long as she had.

her eyes softened as she looked up into his. steve placed a hand on her cheek, leaning in to kiss her. as soon as meadow closed her eyes, their lips mere inches apart, dart screeched from outside.

meadow and steve jumped away from each other in shock, moving to the window as dustin woke up, following them. "are you wearing steve's jacket?" dustin asked his sister, confused.

both teens ignored his question, watching dart, who didn't seem interested in the meat they'd planted to lure him. "why isn't he eating it?" meadow asked, not taking her eyes off of the creature.

"maybe he's tired of cow." steve suggested, standing up. he tossed his lighter to dustin. "get ready."

meadow hopped up, following him. "steve, what are you doing?" he turned to face her.

"like you said," he smiled, "i'm being a hero."