"All right, so let me get this straight. You kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl who...who you just met?" Steve asked once Dustin had explained everything, throwing the slabs of meat on the ground.

"All right, that's grossly oversimplifying things," Dustin argued. Beverly threw some pieces on the ground, trying to figure out how all of this was even happening again.

"I mean, why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?" Steve questioned.

"An inter-dimensional slug? Because it's awesome," Dustin replied. "Wouldn't you think it was awesome, Bev?"

Both boys turned to look at her, waiting for her answer. She thought about it for a moment, thinking about all the sci-fi movies that she liked. "I mean...if it wasn't scary looking, then maybe," she answered with a shrug.

Steve gave her a confused look before he shook his head. "Well, even if she thought it was cool, which she didn't," he began, giving Beverly a pointed look, "I-I just...I don't know! I just feel like you're trying way too hard, man," the Harrington boy pointed out.

"Well, not everyone can have your perfect hair, all right," Dustin countered bitterly.

"It's not about the hair, man," Steve told him.

"Oh, it's definitely not about the hair," Beverly agreed with a smirk to piss Steve off.

He gave her an annoyed look and she just shrugged at him, throwing some meat on the ground. Steve looked back at Dustin. "The key with girls is just...just acting like you don't care," Steve advised Dustin. Beverly gave Steve a wide eyed look, but stayed quiet since she wanted to learn the inner workings of Steve 'The Hair' Harrington.

"Even if you do?" Dustin asked.

"Yeah, exactly. It drives them nuts."

"Then what?"

"You just wait until, uh...until you feel it," Steve told him.

"Feel what?"

"It's like before it's gonna storm, you know? You can't see it, but you can feel it, like this, uh...electricity, you know?" Steve continued and Beverly arched a brow.

"Oh, like in the electromagnetic field when the clouds in the atmosphere—"

"No, no, no, no, no, no. Like a — like a sexual electricity," Steve clarified and Beverly smacked his arm. "Hey, what?!"

"He's thirteen!" Beverly exclaimed, gesturing towards Dustin.

"Hey, I know what sexual means!" Dustin argued. "I'm not a baby!"

"Yeah, exactly, Beverly," Steve bragged smugly before he turned back to the boy. Beverly sighed and rolled her eyes. "Anyway, you feel that and then you make your move."

"So that's when you kiss her?" Dustin asked and Beverly let out a small laugh at his readiness to want to kiss this girl he had just met already.

"No, whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down, Romeo."

"Sorry."

"Sure, okay, some girls, yeah, they want you to be aggressive. You know, strong, hot and heavy, like a...I don't know, like a lion," Steve told him as he looked directly at Beverly.

"Why are you looking at me for?" she questioned.

"I mean, you did decide to go for Billy, so..." Steve trailed off, giving her a look.

"Oh, my God! It was one date, it's no big deal," Beverly said, rolling her eyes at him yet again.

"And one make out session," he added and Beverly groaned in annoyance. Steve chuckled quietly before he looked back at Dustin. "But others, you gotta be slow, you gotta be stealthy, like a...like a ninja," he continued.

"What type is Nancy?" Dustin asked.

"Nancy's different. She's different than the other girls," Steve replied and Beverly glanced away, feeling an odd feeling in her stomach for some reason. She didn't know why, but she didn't like the way he said that for some reason — implying that Nancy was above the rest of them. Yes, he loved her and he himself put her above everyone, but that didn't make her above everyone.

Beverly thought that she was different, too. Not like in a better way, but she just thought that since she didn't give boys like Steve the time of day, then that made her different. Does Billy count as boy like Steve? And Chris? she thought, furrowing her brows.

"Yeah, she seems pretty special, I guess," Dustin pointed out.

"Yeah. Yeah, she is."

"But this girl's special, too, you know. It's just, like, something about her," Dustin added and Beverly smiled at the cuteness.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, hey, hey," Steve stopped him, causing Beverly to slow down.

"What?"

"You're not falling in love with this girl, are you?" Steve queried.

"Uh, no. No," Dustin responded.

"Okay, good. Don't."

"I won't."

"She's only gonna break your heart, and you're way too young for that shit," Steve explained and Beverly's stomach dropped. She thought about Steve breaking her heart when she was around Dustin's age, causing her to hate him for the rest of her life.

"Don't listen to his advice, Dustin. Obviously it doesn't work if Nancy isn't here with him right now," Beverly forced out and Steve scoffed at her, raising his brows.

She then swallowed hard, walking faster than the two boys so they didn't see the way her face contorted to one of sadness. Of course, she had to leave the conversation when Steve started talking about his hair routine, so now she wouldn't be able to use that against him since she couldn't hear them anymore.

She threw some more chunks of meat, trying to get the horrible memory out of her brain. Every time someone said something that reminded her about the event, she would just start to break down...and she didn't want the boys to see. Especially Steve.

After Steve had finished telling Dustin his hair routine, he noticed that Beverly was pretty far ahead of them for some reason, lazily throwing the meat on the ground. Dustin saw that he had been eyeing her, so he asked, "So how come you were with Bev?"

Steve glanced away from her. "Huh?"

"When you came to Mike's house, you two were in the car together. I thought you both hated each other."

"How do you even know that?" Steve asked, raising his eyebrows.

"It's pretty much common knowledge to anyone who knows the two of you," Dustin answered casually.

"Oh. Well...she was heading to Mike's to go see Chris since he cheated on h—"

"Chris cheated?" Dustin questioned in disbelief, his mouth dropping.

"Yeah, I know."

"Holy shit, why the hell would he cheat on her? She's, like, one of the most prettiest girls in Hawkins," Dustin said.

"You got a crush on her or something, Henderson?" Steve asked, giving the boy a look. Sure, Steve couldn't deny that Beverly was, in fact, very pretty, but he wasn't allowed to notice that about her. He hated her...for some reason he didn't know why that apparently she only knew.

"What?! N-no," Dustin stammered and Steve tilted his head, not convinced. "Well, okay, maybe I did like her. I mean, our whole group liked her apart from Will, for some reason. Probably because she's older."

Steve let out a laugh, making Beverly glance back for a quick second since that was the only thing she had heard. "Even Mike?" Steve asked.

Dustin shrugged. "He used to even though Chris was dating her. But after Eleven came, he started to like her."

"So it seems like you guys are all moving on," Steve pointed out.

"I guess. But if she ever asks me out, I would still say yes," Dustin admitted.

"Dude, she's like, like, almost five years older than you," Steve brought up, scoffing.

"Even better," Dustin smiled and Steve shoved him lightly, shaking his head at him as he chuckled quietly. "But anyway, why were you with her?"

"Oh, uh, I saw her walking when I was driving, so I asked her where she was going and she said Chris's, and I was going there, too, for Nancy, so I offered to drive her there," Steve explained casually.

"But you hate her. Why would you offer her a ride?"

"Well, I mean, I wouldn't say I hate her. She hates me more than I hate her. But it's kind of like a mutual...disliking," Steve told him, but he didn't believe himself. He knew that deep down, he didn't actually hate her. After he saw her crying in the middle of the street the night of the party, all he wanted to do was help her. He wouldn't have done that if he actually hated her.

"So if she liked you, would you date her?" the Henderson boy asked.

"Whoa, man! Where the hell did that question come from?" Steve replied, his eyes wide.

Dustin shrugged. "It's just a question."

"Yeah, but a stupid one."

"Well, if it's stupid, why aren't you answering it?" Dustin countered proudly, giving the older boy a look.

"Because it's too stupid to answer," Steve deadpanned and Dustin gave him an impatient look. "No, I-I wouldn't date her, okay? She was Chris's girl and I would never do that to him."

"Okay, but if she wasn't Chris's girl, then you're saying you would date her?" Dustin pointed out, arching a brow.

"That's not what I'm saying, Henderson," Steve spat irritatedly. "She's — she's just...she's Beverly, okay? She's hated me for years and I've dealt with it. In no universe would the two of us be together."

"You guys seem to be working together fine right now," Dustin argued.

"That's because there are bigger things at hand. Trust me, if you went to school with us for one day, you would see how much she really hates me," Steve explained.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"How much do you really hate her?"

Steve glanced up at Beverly, who's hair was slightly swaying in the soft breeze. She was grabbing pieces of meat and throwing them on the ground, not looking to see if they landed or not. "Like I said, she's hates me more than I hate her. I...tolerate her, to a certain extent."

"What did you do to make her hate you so much?" questioned Dustin, who followed Steve's gaze to look at the girl up ahead.

Steve shook his head. "I don't know, man," he answered and Dustin gave him a look. "No, seriously, I don't know. I asked her the other day and she...blew up on me."

"Girls, am I right?" Dustin commented with a laugh.

"Yeah. Girls," Steve agreed, looking back up at Beverly. He studied the way that she walked. It was delicate, but she also carried herself in a way that was confident. Even from the back someone could tell she was beautiful.

Steve cursed at himself in his mind for thinking that. The little shit had gotten her looks into his head, making him think about it. Although he would never admit it to her face, he did find Beverly very pretty. Someone would be stupid not to think that.

He wondered if she found him attractive even though she hated him. Probably not since she hated him more. Why did she hate him more? Steve was dying to get that answer from her, but he was too scared she would yell at him again and try to run away. He guessed he would just have to wait and see.

However, he did find it odd that she had strayed away from the two of them without trying to butt in to the conversation. He decided to pick up the pace, going over toward her in hopes she wouldn't blow him off.

"Hey," he greeted awkwardly.

Beverly glanced over at him, the feeling that she was feeling before suddenly coming back in her stomach. "Hi," she said with a nod, tossing more meat on the ground.

"What's up?" he asked and Beverly let out a low laugh. "What?"

"You're seriously asking me that? When we're trying to lure a possible baby Demogorgon to us?" she questioned and Steve made an 'O' shape with his mouth. "Exactly."

"All right, well, I wanted to make sure everything was okay since you were so quiet," Steve clarified.

"Are you implying that I talk too much?" Beverly queried, arching a brow.

"Maybe," Steve replied, making Beverly scoff and shake her head. "No, I'm — I'm kidding, uh—"

"Calm down, Harrington. I'm not that sensitive," she cut him off, giving him a look. He seemed to have breathed out in relief, confusing the girl a bit. "Anyway, what were you talking about with the kid?"

"What? Oh, nothing," Steve brushed off.

Beverly arched a brow suspiciously. "Well when you say it like that, it doesn't seem like nothing," she pointed out. Steve only shrugged, avoiding her gaze. "Were you talking about me?"

Steve quickly whipped his head to look at her. "What? No, no, no, we weren't. No, we were uh...we were talking about the girl he likes."

Beverly narrowed her eyes at him before she clicked her tongue. "Right. Well, if you were talking about me, all good things I hope," she said, giving Steve a knowing glance.

"When do we ever say good things about each other?" Steve countered, although, he actually wanted to know the answer.

"Fair point."

authors note
so we've delved into
steve's mind a bit here
heh. seems like dustin
makes him think things
that he "isn't supposed to think"
i hope this chapter was a little
bit more entertaining since we got to
see more of bev and steve interacting
lmk what you think in the comments!