The next day at the mall, Beverly helped some young girls find some clothes. She had thought about what Carmen and Alicia were saying the day before about her liking Steve, wanting to prove them wrong somehow. And also to prove her own thoughts wrong.

The last time she had talked to Steve was on the last day of school since she was saying goodbye to everyone, acting like she wouldn't see some of them over the summer. Their interaction was short and awkward, both of them not knowing what to say.

But Beverly wanted to show her friends, and herself, that she could have a normal, friendly conversation with Steve since she liked him as a friend. That was it. Just as a friend. That was honestly even monumental — accepting the fact that she didn't hate him anymore.

So, she decided to work up the courage to go into Scoops Ahoy and say hi. "Hey, Dylan," she said, walking up to him. "I gotta go take a quick bathroom break. Is that okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, but be fast," he told her and she nodded, spinning around to head out. "Oh, and is Carmen stopping by at all today?"

Beverly looked over her shoulder and shrugged. "Maybe. Depends on what happens at the hospital," she answered and she heard him sigh. She smiled humorously at him before walking out of the store.

She noticed Robin holding up a sign with words on it that read, You Suck and You Rule. There were multiple lines on the You Suck side and Beverly tilted her head in confusion before the Buckley girl slid it away. Chris was standing beside her, an amused look on his face as Steve spoke to the both of them.

She continued walking, getting caught behind a group of girls. She was honestly grateful for it, wanting to give herself some time to plan out what to say to the Harrington boy. Wait, stop. Why am I stressing over this so much? I'm supposed to be showing that I don't like him...'cause I don't! I don't...right?

She waited in line behind the group of girls, seeing a Scoops Ahoy hat being flung to the side. She furrowed her brows before she jumped back slightly, hearing Steve exclaim, "Ahoy, ladies! Didn't see you there!" The girls gasped, also getting frightened by him. "Would you guys like to set sail in this ocean of flavor with me? I'll be your captain. I'm Steve Harrington."

The girls chuckled awkwardly while the girl in the very front muttered, "Oh, God." Beverly grinned in amusement, not sure what Steve was trying to do. It seemed like he was trying to flirt, but at the same time, it also seemed like he was trying to act the part of being a sailor. Beverly secretly hoped it was the latter.

"Can I get you guys a little taste of the Cherries Jubilee? No? Anybody? Banana Boat? Four people, four spoons? Share it in the booth? Anybody? It's hot out there," he rambled on.

"You know, actually, we changed our minds," the girl in front slowly said and her friends behind her nodded, turning around and leaving.

"Oh, uh, okay! Come — come back anytime, ladies!" Steve shouted after them, earning a comical glance between Robin and Chris.

Beverly stepped up once the girls had left. It seemed like Steve hadn't noticed her yet, so she spoke up, "Hey, Steve."

Steve's eyes immediately landed on her, blinking rapidly once he realized who it was. "B-Beverly!" he said loudly, making her eyes go wide slightly. "I was wondering when you were gonna stop by."

"What?"

"Oh, 'cause, you know, we work across from each other," he quickly explained, clearing his throat awkwardly.

"Oh, right, yeah," she replied, playing it off cool. She then looked at Chris, who's entertained smile had faded. "Hey, Chris," she said. After their official breakup last fall, the two had barely spoken to each other and they weren't even considered friends. But Beverly had pretty much gotten over the whole drama since it was months ago. And Chris...not so much.

"Oh, uh, hey," he greeted, not even meeting her eyes. He then stepped further into the back room, leaving the three of them.

Beverly bit the inside of her cheek from the action, not knowing what to think of that. She then looked at Robin, who was giving Chris a confused look. "Hey, Robin," Beverly addressed.

Robin looked back at the girl, not expecting her to say anything to her. "You know my name?" Robin asked, narrowing her eyes.

"It's on your name tag," Beverly pointed out.

Robin looked down at her name tag before she looked back up at the brunette. "Oh. Right."

"Yeah." For some reason, Beverly didn't want to say where she really knew her from since she wasn't sure if Robin even remembered her. And she didn't want things to go into an awkward spiral of Beverly having to explain everything and yada yada yada. She then looked back at Steve, who had been staring at her the whole time. "So...how's it working here?"

"Oh, you know, just awesome. Just dandy. I love it," Steve said, although his tone suggested otherwise. "And, you know, the outfits are just a perk."

"Oh, yeah, they're awesome," Beverly spoke, going along with it. "Makes me wanna work here."

"You should," Steve immediately said, earning a side eye glance from Robin behind him. Beverly's cheeks heated up slightly from the quickness of his words. "Uh, we — we could use an extra person, you know?"

"There's already three of us!" Chris called out from the back, seeming to be listening to the conversation even though he had walked away. Beverly furrowed her brows at his behavior, not sure of his reasons behind it.

Steve laughed a little too loud, making Robin roll her eyes at him. "Uh, don't listen to him. The more the merrier! Right, Robin?" he said, trying to be backed up by her.

"I don't really care," Robin told to the both of them, leaving to go to the back with Chris. Beverly raised her eyebrows at her response, not remembering Robin to be like that when she was friends with her years ago.

Steve chuckled awkwardly, looking back at Beverly. "She's, uh...she's cranky," he told her and Beverly nodded, forcing a smile. "But yeah, you should really consider working here."

Beverly shrugged, placing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Maybe. I don't know if I could leave Alicia all by herself, though. Our coworker is kinda crazy," she responded and Steve nodded, pretending not to be disappointed.

"So, uh...how's, um..." Steve trailed off, not knowing what to say since he was internally freaking out. "How's life?" he quickly came up with.

Beverly let out a laugh, causing his stomach to do a backflip because of how much he liked the sound of it. "Well, it's summer, so that automatically makes life better," she answered.

"You know what college you're going to?"

Beverly shook her head. "Uh, no, I'm not going to college. I kinda don't know what I wanna do," she told him, not exactly lying but also not telling the whole truth. She had only told Alicia and Carmen about her financial problems and didn't feel like having to explain it to everyone else. "You?"

"Oh, I just didn't get into anywhere," he truthfully told her. "So my dad forced me to get a job and...here I am! Great, right?"

"Well, at least you'll make money," Beverly pointed out positively.

"That is true," Steve agreed with a head nod.

"I mean, that's what I'm trying to do." Beverly bobbed up and down on her feet awkwardly, not knowing what else to say to him. "So, uh, I'm just gonna...go," she said ungainly, pointing her thumb over her shoulder.

"Oh, you're not gonna order anything?" Steve asked.

"No, I just came over to talk to y—" Beverly cut herself off, realizing what she was about to say. "To talk to you all. You know, to say hi."

"Oh, yeah. Makes — makes sense," Steve stammered, a little saddened that she wanted to see all of them and not just him. "So, I'll see you every day then."

"What?" Beverly said in confusion, not knowing what he had meant by that. Is he going to stop by my house every day? Oh, my God, I need to make sure I look good — No, wait, what? No, I don't care if I look good in front of him. No, she quickly thought.

"Oh, 'cause, we're across from each other," Steve clarified, pointing over to her store she worked at. "I-It was a joke."

"Oh! Oh, right," Beverly said, embarrassed that she didn't get the joke. "Yeah, I'll see you every day," she said with a slight laugh, and Steve smiled before she turned around and walked off. "So stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid," she muttered to herself.

Steve turned around to face Robin and Chris, who he didn't know were watching him. "So stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid," he grumbled, smacking his head.

Chris and Robin gave each other a look. "You like her or something?" Robin questioned and Chris's lips pursed, wanting to hear Steve's answer. Even though the two weren't exactly best friends anymore, Chris would feel like it was kinda low if Steve went for his ex. And if Beverly went for Steve after years of hating him.

"What?! Are you crazy? No. Hell no. What — what kind of question is that? I-I can't believe you would even ask me that," Steve immediately denied, rapidly shaking his head. "We — we used to hate each other."

"Used to?" Chris repeated, furrowing his brows. He knew that the two had worked together a few months ago babysitting the kids, but after that, it seemed like they didn't talk as much. Things just seemed...awkward.

Not that he was paying attention to the both of them or anything.

Steve looked at him, realizing that he had been talking about his ex the whole time. "We, uh...I guess we kinda made up. I don't know, it's complicated."

"Complicated?" Chris echoed, standing up from where he sat. "How is it complicated?"

"Well—"

"Okay, look. I don't need you two fighting over this girl, for some weird reason I don't know the answer to, because I don't feel like getting fired for not doing my job. So can we just work, please?" Robin hastily interjected, an expectant look on her face.

Steve and Chris locked eyes, a tension falling over them. "Fine," they both said at the same time and Robin nodded, satisfied with their answer.

authors note
first steve interaction for
season 3 yesssss!!!!! i love how
they're both trying to deny the
fact that they're literally simping over
one another 💀💀💀 also I changed my email
for this account and for some reason the verification
thing isn't being sent to be so im not sure if
I'm gonna be able to publish more chapters soon
so keep that in mind