For a Friday night, work is dreadfully slow. Willow has to preoccupy herself by completely reorganizing the horror section, which really devolves into Steve and her debating if they'd survive the slasher films she's alphabetizing now. She's currently sitting cross-legged in the aisle with stacks towering about her.

"You can't tell me you'd be able to survive Freddy Kruger , Jenkins! He literally kills you while you sleep!"

"Just don't sleep! I don't know what to tell you, Harrington!"

"You can't just... not sleep!"

"I can to survive. Watch me ," Willow reaches and snatches the movie from Steve's hands, turning and placing it on the shelf she was working on.

"I- No! Have you ever taken a biology class? You have to sleep, it's the most basic of human instinct," Steve is shaking his head as he stands over Willow, keeping watch for any last minute customers during their final hour open.

"Yeah, and I aced it. Besides, nothing ever makes sense in horror movies, stop cramping on my survival skills," she scoffs and places a second copy of A Nightmare on Elm Street beside the first one.

He crosses his arms, hips cocked, "You're impossible."

"Okay, smart ass. How would you survive Freddy?"

"Simple - I wouldn't. I like my sleep."

"What, you're just going to give up? Like that?" Willow gasps, feeling far too offended considering this entire conversation was based on fiction and 'what-ifs'.

"Just like that."

"Steven Joseph Harrington Junior-"

"Really, my government name? Including Junior? Come on-"

"You are so lucky you have me. One day, we're going to be in a real life horror movie, and I'm going to save your ass," Willow finishes her sentence, and she can see a faraway look gloss over Steve's eyes as he softly smiles at her.

That's when she remembers - Steve has been in a real life horror movie. Everything that Robin had told her about the mall, how Steve had been sucked into that world even before last summer. She feels sick to her stomach as she realizes she's reminded him of the event - and he doesn't even know that she knows she's done this.

Immediately, in an attempt to change the subject and reel him back into her, she says, "Hit me with the next one."

"Okay, okay. What about... this one?" Steve grabs a random movie off the top of a pile close to him, still not seeming fully there with her.

"Sleepaway Camp?" Willow forces herself to laugh, to try to bring back some normalcy and continue to bring Steve back from his mind, "Can't say I've ever watched it but, I have this rule that I would survive any slasher film that takes place in the woods."

"What? Why?" Steve scrunches his nose, adorably so, flipping the movie back and forth in his hands.

She shrugs, shelving a few more of the movies, "Why not? Half those camp killers wear masks, and I'm agile. Can you hand me that stack?"

"How are those related?" Steve laughs heartily, grabbing the stack that Willow had motioned to that was just out of her reach.

The memory of the night has clearly passed for him. Willow has never breathed easier.

"Okay, hear me out: if they're wearing masks, that handicaps them. Their vision is probably obscured at least a little , right? And then, my agility means I'll be able to run fast and carefully away. There's no way some freak in a ski mask is going to catch me. I'm simply built like a final girl, Harrington."

They're both giggling madly, Steve unraveling as he bends over and succumbs to his laughter. "Why have you thought about this so much?"

Willow finally stands up and brushes any lint from the carpet that sticks to her jeans, "It's called survival of the fittest! Watch, one day you'll go away to summer camp, and some random psycho with a knife is going to show up, and you're going to think, 'damn, I wish Jenkins was here'."

"God, I hate you so much."

"Love you too, Stevie," Willow makes a kissy face at Steve, and he chokes back any further laughter as he turns away from her, walking and grabbing one of their stacks of returned movies on the counter.

It felt good to just hang out with Steve, laughing and joking like they used to at Scoops. She'd missed this. She'd missed him.

Willow makes her way back around their counter, taking a seat on a stool in front of one of their computers. She taps on the space bar a few times to wake it up, the screen bursting with light as she squints to read the time. 10:42. They still had eighteen minutes till close.

"Hey!" Steve calls out into the empty store from the aisle he's wondered down, "You still need a ride home after this, right?"

Willow swallows hard, heart racing a bit. "Um, no! I don't actually."

"No? What? You got a secret car I don't know about, Jenkins?" His head peeks out from the romance aisle, a wrinkle forming between his brows.

She doesn't get to reply, to ease his confusion, as the bell to the front door rings and signals a customer entering the store.

Her focus tears from Steve, voice pitching high as she puts on her best customer service smile and begins to call out, "Hello! Welcome to Family Vid-"

She stops mid sentence at the sight in front of her. It's not just some random customer coming in at the last minute for a movie - it's Eddie.

"Hey, Red," He greets her with ease, wearing his Hellfire Club shirt and a classic, soft smile.

When he first suggested picking her up, she had been riddled with worry. But he'd been able to convince her with ease.

"Listen, Harrington is the entire point to all this. We have to play pretend in front of him at some point, Red," he had argued with her.

And he was right. Willow was going to have to rip off the bandaid - there were only so many times she could mention Eddie to Steve, only so many fights to be had before Steve would grow numb to the topic of discussion. She knew the next logical step was always going to be this; she needed Steve to witness them with his own two eyes. He didn't need a daily recount of how Eddie borrowed her pencil, or how he told her she looked pretty, or how he let her borrow his jacket indefinitely - he needed to watch Eddie Munson make Willow Jenkins swoon.

And swoon Willow did.

She leans her palms onto the counter as Eddie makes his way to her, greeting him as flirtatiously as possible, "Hey, Munson. What are you doing here early?"

It's less in her words, and more in her actions. Her body language . She's trying her hardest - she's batting her lashes, she's doing the awful shoulder shrug girls do to make their cleavage look bigger, she's pretending to fight off a flirtatious smile that doesn't even exist. All she can do is hope Steve is watching, and that she's doing enough to spark his jealousy.

"Oh, you know, the usual," Eddie muses, clearly already entertained by the show Willow was putting on.

"Causing trouble?"

"Always. I also may have heard a rumor that the only video store in town hired the prettiest girl, and I just had to swing by and see it with my own two eyes."

He's better at this than she is; his act is far more effortless, the flirtatious attitude rolling off him in waves. There's something in his tone and the way he's carrying himself as he finally reaches the counter that has Willow wondering how much longer she'll have to act like she's swooning for him before she actually is . Maybe it's his big, brown, doe eyes. Maybe it's the lopsided grin. Maybe it's the way he just called her the prettiest girl in town.

Willow isn't sure. She doesn't have the patience to work it out.

She also notices that he clearly doesn't care if they've captivated their intended audience - or at least, he's pretending not to, and very well. His eyes stay trained on her while hers flicker mercilessly to watch Steve. She can see his shoulders tensing, the way he's so stiff as he shoves a movie into its home on the shelf. They're getting to him, and they've only shared a few sentences.

"Well, what's the verdict?" she asks a bit louder than necessary, and the look that Eddie gives her is screaming that she's overdone it.

Eddie gives it a moment, taking his time to look her over. She has to fight herself to not keep glancing at Steve, who only has a few more movies left to shelve. She's so occupied with him that she doesn't notice the way Eddie bites his lip ever so slightly, the way he sucks in his breath just a little bit deeper before answering her.

"I think the rumors were right," Eddie finally breathes out, a dumb grin on his lips that convinces even Willow he's being painfully honest.

She wonders for a moment if it's all too real to Eddie too - if he does think she's pretty, period. She knows she's not the prettiest girl in town, but she can't help but wonder if they weren't putting on an act for Steve Harrington, would she still catch Eddie's eyes?

Probably not, given their track history.

She can only laugh, suddenly overwhelmed with the flirting act and letting it drop a few notches. Eddie is too good at this, his doe eyes glued to Willow's and making her thoughts feel sticky. She was being ridiculous - Eddie Munson didn't think about how pretty she was - he just wanted to get under Steve's skin. It's the reason they were doing this. It's the reason he was perfect for the job.

Just as Steve shelves the final movie that was in his hand, and the final return they needed to put away before closing, Eddie speaks up again, "How much longer do you guys have?"

"Uh," Willow pauses, leaning back and waking the computer up once more, "Like, ten minutes. Think you can last that long?"

Eddie's grin is pure trouble, "Oh, sweetheart. You take me for a minute man?"

This type of flirting, the dirty jokes, was not a part of their agreed upon act. Willow immediately reacts on instinct, reaching out and smacking Eddie's shoulder, "Shut up, perv. I think I'd rather walk home now."

Willow can't decide if Steve's timing is perfect or ill as he walks up on them at this exact moment. She knows they've been loud enough for him to hear the entire conversation, but he's been polite in not joining in.

"So I take it this is your secret car?" he says, waving between the two of them. His voice is surprisingly neutral, and Willow hates how disappointed she is in his lack of obvious jealousy.

"Oh, yeah," she grins nervously, pulling herself out of Eddie's orbit as Steve rounds the counter to join her side, "I'm sorry for not telling you earlier."

"It's all good. Just don't want you walking home out there, Jenkins."

He's still so indifferent. He's not cracking under Willow's or Eddie's scrutinizing stares.

"Hey there, Harrington," Eddie carefully greets, acknowledging Steve's existence for the first time since he walked in.

This could either go very well, or very badly. And even if it goes badly, doesn't that mean it's technically gone very well in retrospect to their scheme?

"Munson," Steve plainly returns the greeting, leaning onto a counter with a bit of distance between himself and Willow.

Goddamn it. Be mad, be angry, just be something besides unbothered, Harrington.

The silence, the tension, is suffocating. It's not even because of Steve - the tension is solely radiating off of Eddie and Willow. They were both so expectant of a negative reaction from Steve that they hadn't discussed what to do if he reacted this way.

"So," Steve suddenly says, breaking their silence, "You still on for the movies tomorrow, right?"

"Absolutely. Who's turn is it to pick again?" Willow doesn't hesitate. She wasn't going to miss movie night for the world, considering Robin had threatened physical violence if she missed it.

Steve shrugs, nonchalant as ever, "I think it was meant to be mine, but if you have a movie in mind..." he spreads his arms out, "Lay it on me."

Willow feels a smile tugging on her lips as she wastes no time, leaving Eddie and Steve to stand awkwardly alone as she returns to the aisle she just reorganized. It doesn't even take her a full minute to find the exact movie she wants, clutching it to her chest as she excitedly bounds back to where Steve is.

Eddie's watching with curious eyes, but avoiding treading on the moment. She appreciates it more than he realizes as she holds the movie behind her back, smirking at Steve. "You get three guesses."

Steve throws his head back, groaning, "Really? You're gonna make me guess?"

"Always."

He thinks for a moment, staring into her eyes unblinking before dramatically snapping his fingers. "I got it! Camp Sleepy!"

" Camp Sleepy ?" she questions with a snort, "What?"

"The movie you said you'd survive because it's at a camp in the woods. C'mon, we just talked about it, 'Low!"

"Oh my god, are you meaning Sleepaway Camp?" the moment Willow corrects him, Eddie is snorting right along with her as Steve flushes with embarrassment.

"Camp Sleepy? Jesus, Harrington," Eddie laughs as his head shakes, his hair curtaining around his face.

The flush brightens on Steve's cheeks. "Whatever, that's my guess. Am I right?"

"Nope," Willow grips the movie tighter, "Guess again."

"After that?" Steve questions, crossing his arms, "No, absolutely not. I refuse to embarrass myself again."

"Oh, come on ," Willow whines, leaning forward, eyes shining as she bats her lashes at Steve.

This time, none of her actions are purposeful like they were with Eddie.

"Just tell me!" Steve insists, a ghosting smile letting her know he was still playing along to some extent.

"Fine, fine," Willow sighs, "Drum roll, please!"

When Steve doesn't entertain her, a strangely quiet Eddie leaps into action. He wastes no time entertaining her dramatics, rings adding a soft tinkling to mingle with the smacking of his palms on their counter. He watches her with raised eyebrows and wide eyes, nodding in encouragement.

She reveals the movie with flair from behind her back, holding it up to Steve fighting giggles.

"Nightmare on Elm Street? Really?" Steve groans jokingly as he steals it from her, waving it around, "Haven't you already seen this?"

"Yes, and I know you have to, but you clearly need a refresher on how terrifying Kruger is if you are willing to simply sleep if someone were to thrust you into his universe."

Eddie is forgotten, an innocent observer for just a few seconds. Steve is smiling his lopsided, boyish grin, and his eyes are big and round, looking into Willow's only until her heart starts to do flips. He mumbles an 'I hate you' that could so easily be mistaken for 'I love you' that Willow gets butterflies.

"So what, you guys have weekly movie nights or something?" Eddie asks, finally growing uncomfortable with being forgotten.

"Sort of, Robin thinks we need to keep up to date with movies given the job," Willow snaps out of it, turning to Eddie, heart still racing, "It's like she's our teacher and once a week gives us movie lessons."

"She just started letting us choose movies," Steve pipes up, waving Willow's choice for emphasis as he begins typing into the system.

The one perk about working here was that they didn't have to pay to rent out movies. Simply enter it as rented out in the system, and take it home.

There's a moment where Willow considers inviting Eddie along with them, to tell him to join them tomorrow night. She even wants to let him in on her inside joke with Steve, to insist he give his opinions on which movies he could survive. It's not just to irritate Steve, either - she's genuinely curious as to what he would say.

"Hey, do you want to join tomorrow night?"

It's not Willow's voice that asks this. It's Steve's.

Eddie and Willow both share a shocked glance, unsure of how to proceed as Steve looks up from the computer casually. He looks between the two of them and their open mouths before questioning, "What?"

"Nothing," Willow laughs out nervously, wondering if she was being punked.

Did he really not care? Maybe he doesn't, he probably doesn't even have feelings for me. Maybe the entire fake-dating situation is all useless. Maybe Robin had found this out and that's why she had tried to deter me.

Willow's mind is clouded with a ridiculous amount of thoughts and doubts when Eddie clears his throat finally, "I'd love to, if you guys will have me."

"Sure, man," Steve's grin is forced, but Willow knows now it's not out of jealousy, "Hey, it's eleven. You wanna grab your stuff from the back?"

He's talking to Willow, and she pulls free from her thoughts long enough to nod numbly.

It's all been useless. She threw herself into this mess for nothing . Steve Harrington never cared about her the way she craved, and he never would.

She didn't even care how dramatic her spiral sounded, she allowed herself a pity party as she walked to the back and grabbed her bag off of one of the hooks on the wall. All this nonsense, tangling up with Eddie Munson and getting onto Jason Carver's shitlist, derooting herself from her position of a wallflower just to get slapped in the face with this realization.

Maybe she had always been too hopeful. Robin did try to stop her, didn't she?

"Ready to go?" Eddie asks her when she joins them once more. He seems a bit more tense, but she thinks nothing of it.

"Yeah, let's head out," she forces on a cheery tone, one that disguised the fact that she was absolutely wallowing in self-pity at this moment.

Steve locks up with his keys. He takes her pick for movie night with him, waving them off with a soft 'see you guys tomorrow' and forcing Willow to promise to call him once she gets home safely before he's revving his engine and taking off.

Just like that, Steve Harrington has left her alone with Eddie Munson without blinking an eye.

"Okay, what's your problem, pouty?" Eddie bumps her shoulder with his, walking around to the passenger side of his van and grabbing at the handle. He doesn't open the door for her, not yet.

"What do you mean?"

"You look like a toddler someone stole candy from. What did we do?" Eddie stresses, tilting his head softly at her.

Willow shrugs, blowing a long breath out from pursed lips, "It's nothing. It's stupid. Just take me home, yeah?"

"No."

"What?"

"I'm not taking you home till you tell me what's wrong, stupid or not."

"No, move."

Eddie stands his ground, not flinching when she takes a step forward and tries to pry his hand off the door handle and open it herself.

"Seriously? Jesus Christ," Willow huffs, having to lean her head back to meet Eddie's hard gaze, "Okay, fine! I'm upset that Steve wasn't more jealous. There, happy?"

At this admission, she can feel all the negative emotions boil up her throat. Her eyes get a bit teary.

It's an awful feeling, realizing someone really doesn't like you.

"What?" Eddie asks, looking dumbfounded.