HAVEN - stranger things.

v. SUPERMARKET.

v. insecurity!

wendy carmichael was the first to state the obvious.
"well if he can't go out to get food, we should probably bring him groceries." she said.

eddie munson looked up at wendy and nodded.
"rick is starting to run low on food, and i don't know when he's coming back." eddie agreed.

the group, minus eddie, had left the lodge and began to approach steve's car.
"no grocery store is gonna be open this late, so we might as well just wait until morning." steve said once they all piled into his car.

"what are we gonna do until morning?" robin asked, looking at steve and wendy in the front seat.

wendy looked back at her.
"i don't know about you, but i could go for a nice nap. i suggest you guys take one too. if eddie needs us, we'll be right here. and...i mean i guess we can take shifts keeping watch." wendy proposed and looked towards her boyfriend.

"no." steve already knew where she was heading with her conversation.

"and i vote steve taking the first watch." she smiled.

"what?!" steve groaned as the rest of the group agreed to wendy's vote.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

steve harrington stood next to wendy as he watched her examine the chip bags in aisle six of the local grocery store.
"i don't think he's gonna care about the nutritional value of doritos, wendy." steve said, plucking the bag of chips from wendy's hands to put in the shopping cart.

"i forgot that you're an asshole to other people." wendy scoffed as she pushed the shopping cart down the aisle, looking for more snacks to take to eddie munson.

"that's not true! hey, are you going to tell me about you and eddie?" steve speed-walked to stay next to wendy.

"i don't know what you're talking about." wendy grabbed a bag of candy and tossed it into the cart. steve rolled his eyes.
"tell me." steve insisted.

wendy stopped pushing the cart and stared at steve for a second before sighing.
"do you remember the snowball dance? the one where i told you i liked you and you told me that bullshit about how i deserve better?" wendy had placed a hand on her hip.

steve tried to fight his smile that was attempting to appear on his face because of how maternal wendy looked at that moment, it was as if their future together had flashed before his eyes. wait, he was getting side tracked. he remembered the dance and situation that wendy was talking about.

"yes, yeah i remember." he nodded. steve knew that rejecting wendy at the snowball dance was his biggest regret, but he knew that if he hadn't rejected her, they probably wouldn't have been dating at this exact moment.

"well...god this is embarrassing...after you did that, i, very stupidly, started crying on the bleachers," wendy admitted, her cheeks were flushed from embarrassment. she had always vowed to herself that she would never tell steve that she cried that night. steve harrington frowned at the thought of his best friend crying over his rejection. "anyways, eddie saw and he...well, he asked me if i wanted to dance with him. little eddie munson with his buzzcut and braces." wendy found herself smiling as she remembered the moment.

steve stood in silence, he didn't know what to say.
"and he became my first boyfriend, but i don't know, he probably doesn't remember. it was like any other shitty middle school first relationship." wendy waved her hand in the air.

steve felt a pang of jealousy. not because of the thought of wendy dating another guy, but because she treated it like a bittersweet memory. she acted as if she still had a crush on him. steve harrington never seemed to get jealous over wendy's previous crushes or boyfriends—he knew of the guy from their sophomore year, then he remembered wendy telling him about the senior that she lost her virginity to, then there was billy hargrove.

wendy dating billy hargrove was the first time that steve had felt pure, unadulterated jealousy when it came to wendy. yet as they stood in the middle of, steve hadn't noticed, a new aisle, he couldn't shake off the feeling of jealousy that he felt about young wendy carmichael with eddie munson.

wendy had noticed that steve hadn't said anything in the past five minutes, he had just trailed behind her as she continued to shop for eddie munson's groceries.

"alright what's your problem?" wendy stopped in her tracks, causing steve to jump. he had finally returned to reality.

"what? nothing's up." steve asked, folding his arms over his chest.
wendy sighed and walked up to her boyfriend.

the last time that wendy could remember her and steve being the same height was when they were thirteen, then he continued to grow taller and taller. he now stood over her, being seven inches taller.

"steve, talk to me. what's wrong? as wendy the friend, not wendy the girlfriend." she looked up at him.

steve could see the flecks of green in her eyes, he realized that the line between wendy the friend and wendy the girlfriend had been severely blurred but he let out a sigh as he expressed his insecurity.

"do you still like him? because it sounds like you do." steve hated how insecure and clingy he sounded, it wasn't him.
wendy shook her head before responding.

"no. i don't. steve, i only like you. no, i love you and you only. every girl remembers that first person that made them feel wanted. eddie was that person for me. but you," she stepped closer to steve. "make me feel like that every day. you don't ever have to worry about anyone taking your place." she concluded.

steve harrington felt his heart swell as his girlfriend looked at him. he loved wendy—he loved her blonde dyed hair, he loved how she always wore striped shirts with socks that matched (even though he would never understand how she did that), he loved her courage and her concern for him, the kids, her family. he loved who she was and what she stood for. he didn't know if he believed in soulmates, but if they were real, wendy was his.

"i love you." he felt compelled to say it, but it was true.

wendy's lips curled into a smile and she flashed her white teeth—steve harrington was the love of her life.
"i love you too." she grabbed his hands to hold in hers.

steve leaned down to kiss wendy, but the two separated once they heard the voice of dustin henderson.

"what the hell! we've been looking for you two! guys, i found them!" dustin yelled out to max and robin as the three approached steve and wendy.

"we need to head back." robin announced.

wendy and steve stepped to the side as max mayfield began to push the cart that wendy had.
"you guys lead the way." wendy joked.