𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐕𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚 - 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐬

⁷Dinner

Set after season 2.

°•°•°•°•°

A week after the Snowball dance, Lea had told Steve to come to the cabin so her dad and El could formally meet him.

Of course, Steve was nervous. It was Chief Hopper for God's sake.

Lea was cooking that night. She didn't want her dad anywhere near the kitchen so she could make sure that everything was perfect. The day before, Lea had gone to Meldivald's to pick up some things.

She and Joyce made small talk at the counter and they talked boys. Specifically Steve Harrington.

She walked out of the store with frozen chicken breasts, macaroni, noodles, and frozen vegetables.

The next day she started cooking at six-thirty because Steve would be there at seven. That gave everyone some time to talk. Once Lea put the chicken in the oven and wiped her hands on her pants there was a knock at the door. Her dad was in his room getting ready still and Lea needed to finish putting things on the stove.

Lea looked at Eleven who was on the couch. "El... could you...?" The girl nodded and stared at the door for a moment before the locks turned and the door swung open. Steve stepped inside and looked around, finding Lea's eyes almost immediately.

He had a bouquet of lilies in his hands. "How the hell did you find lilies? It's like dead winter right now."

Steve shrugged and held them out to her as she walked towards him. "No idea. I don't know anything about flowers." Lea laughed and walked into the kitchen to find a vase for them. After she did and put them on the counter she turned around and saw Eleven walk up to Steve and poke his bicep.

"Uhhhh... hey." Steve greeted awkwardly. Lea sighed and walked over to them.

"Steve, this is my sister. Eleven." The blonde introduced. Steve nodded and then they just stared at each other for a long time.

Steve was thinking about how intimidating El's stare was. He looked up when he heard loud footsteps. Chief Hopper. Steve cleared his throat. "Good evening, sir."

Lea bit her lip in anticipation, waiting for what her dad was going to say. He didn't spare him a glance and walked past him, sitting at the table. "Hey." He grunted. Lea looked at him with narrowed eyes. He sighed and stood up. "Hello, Steve."

The girl smiled and cleared her throat. "Do you want anything to drink, Steve?"

Steve looked at her and shook his head. "No, I'm okay." Lea smiled and nodded. El stood there staring at Steve and Hopper looked at Lea.

There was a second more of suffocating awkwardness and Lea clapped her hands. "Okay, um I have to finish cooking so... yeah."

Lea shut her eyes and breathed out after turning around to stir the two pots on the stove. Lea's eyes widened when she heard her father's next words. "I would just like you to remember that I'm the Chief of Police. I have a gun and I can do whatever I want." She spun around and gasped.

"Dad!" Hopper looked at her with a shrug.

"What?"

Lea huffed and grabbed her dad's arm, dragging him to his room. "Can you not be like this today? I promised Steve that you wouldn't be so... so asshole-y."

"Well, I don't know why you'd do that? I'm me. Do you know me?" Lea rolled her eyes and ran her hand over her face.

"Can you please just... try?"

Hopper glanced at the ground and back up, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fine. I'll try. That doesn't mean that I have to like him."

"Just be nice."

The rest of the night only had a few bumps. Steve and Hopper had about two and a half-civilized conversations. Lea and Eleven snuck glances at each other.

El and Hopper said goodbye to Steve and Lea walked him outside. They stood on the porch and Steve let out a breath that he had seemed to be holding all night.

"Thank you for this." Lea sighed, laying her hands on his chest.

Steve smiled down at her. "Anything for you." He said quietly. "Even if it's doing something scarier than fighting a Demogorgon."

Lea giggled. "My dad's scarier than one of those things!? Please." She rolled her eyes teasingly. Steve nodded his head and placed his hands gently on the sides of her face.

He smiled as their lips touched, in turn making his girlfriend smile. They stood there in the cold, soaking in each other.

They heard the door open and Hopper clear his throat. Steve pulled away and looked at the teenager and nodded his head towards the woods.

"I'm just gonna... yeah." Steve skipped down the steps, scratching the back of his neck and muttering things as he walked faster.

Lea turned to her dad with a blush on her cheeks and walked past him inside the house. Eleven and she giggled at each other and went to the older girl's room and started to talk about her boyfriend. Eventually, they got onto the topic of Mike and Lea listened to her describe feelings that she didn't actually know the name of. It made Lea's heart swell knowing that her sister was finally happy.

And so was she.