For Forever.

Two.

"What is this? Why are you being so pushy?" Steve scoffed, looking to Dustin, who looked to Nancy for help.

"We just think you'll really like this one." Nancy said with a convincing smile.

"This is the fifth date in two days, I don't know how much more I can take." He huffed, as he was practically pushed through the door.

"Just one more... and if you still don't think she's the one, then I won't set you up anymore."

"Promise?"

"Promise." She nodded. "Just give her a chance."

"What about you? You suddenly seem all for this." Dustin shrugged.

"I've met her, and she seems perfect." He said. Steve shook his head, releasing a breath. "There she is. Good luck." He turned, his eyes landing on a girl sat at the furthest corner of the room, her back to him.

"Mm." He began walking over, words leaving his mouth before he even sat down. "Hi, I'm Steve." He huffed.

"Hey, Steve, I'm Antoinette." She smiled, gazing up at him. At last, he got a good look at her, and he froze in place. It was almost as if his heart had stopped pumping blood for a moment. As if all the air in his lungs had been sucked out into the atmosphere. As if he was experiencing total shut down. As if all of the feeling had been drained from his body. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to cry. He wanted to embrace her. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted her to just talk. Frankly, he wanted to scream. But nothing. All of this running across his mind only allowed him to drop down to his knees, his eyes still locked on her.

"Oh- oh my god." He managed to choke out, visible tears welling behind his eyes. "I... I- I don't-"

"You've missed me then, huh?" She smiled.

"This is a dream, this is not real."

"No, baby, it's not a dream... I'm really here." She told him, taking his hand. He looked down at it with wide eyes, struggling to comprehend that long forgotten feeling of her skin on his. It was a lot softer than he remembered, but she still smelt the same. She still smelt like home. Upon seeing he was physically unsure what to do with himself, Toni pushed out of her seat, and sat down on her knees in front of him. "Steve?"

"Why did you leave me?" He asked suddenly.

"I was trying to protect you."

"Non of it means anything if I lose you... you hear me? So don't... don't ever do that again. Don't ever leave me ever again." She leaned towards him, resting her forehead against his.

"There's nowhere else I'd wanna go."

-----

"The last thing I remember is hitting the floor, and then I was waking up in Star Court but it... it was dark and I couldn't find anyone, it was like I'd dropped out of existence... and then I realised where I was."

"The upside down." Steve nodded, still holding tightly onto her hand.

"I spent a while looking for Billy. Y'know, El had shut the gate and I figured, if I'm trapped, maybe he got dragged in here too... but no. After a few days, I just decided to go home for a while. Sometimes I would hear Dustin, he would talk to me and I wanted nothing more than to just tell him that I was there, and I could hear him but I didn't know how to get to him. It got to a point where I considered just killing myself because surely that would be better than being stuck down here on my own for the rest of my life. But something happened and I got a whole new sense of hope."

"What happened?"

"I started hearing music." She smiled. "Islands in the stream."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And I realised that you were waiting for me and I just had to get back somehow. And then a gate opened up and I didn't waste a second, I jumped right through it." She shrugged. "In some ways, I guess... you saved me."

"If I had known you were in there, I would've come for you. I would've crawled through the upside down to find you."

"I don't doubt that." She smiled.

"I, uh... I feel like I should tell you that I have been dating again, um, recently."

"Okay?"

"I don't know, I kinda feel bad."

"Hey, don't feel bad. I don't care." She shrugged. "It's been a whole year since everyone thought I died, it was bound to happen at some point. I'm just glad you felt you could move on after all this time. I wouldn't expect you to love me forever, that's gotta be some kinda hell." He reached across to her, gently placing his hand on the side of her face.

"Not once did I ever stop loving you. I told you, that I'd never love again, didn't I? Remember?"

"Yeah, I remember." She nodded, and he smiled. "Y'know you look exhausted."

"I am." He sighed. "I never learnt how to fall asleep without you."

"You wanna go take a nap?"

"God, I'm so glad you asked."

-----

For a while, Steve couldn't help but just look at her. The two had climbed into bed for a nap, but he found that all he wanted to do was just look at her. Take in every little detail. Every freckle on her face. Every blink. Every time her lip twitched. Everything. Somehow, he felt more safe now than he had ever before. Just being there in her arms, her fingers running through his hair, he felt so secure.

"You okay?" She asked, pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

"Yeah." He sighed, and she smiled. She'd never seen his eyes seem so full of love. "Just marry me already."

"What?"

"Marry me. Have my babies. Anything."

"I'm not having any babies for a while, so I can't help you." She shrugged.

"I love you, Henderson." He hummed.

"I love you too, Harrington."