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When they pulled up to the abandoned compound, Liz was shocked at how desolate it looked. She had never been out there, herself, but she knew that sometimes, when the boys got a stick up their asses about something, they would all disappear out here for hours at a time. She was uneasy. Eddie pulled past the compound, off into the woods, and parked behind the treeline. "Just in case anyone comes out here. I don't want to be running for our lives, and get out here to find that the van's been towed," he had explained, pointing to a sign on the dilapidated chain link fence that read, Private Property. No Parking! All violators will be towed! She had a hard time believing that anyone would be out here long enough to call and have anyone towed, but she nodded as he turned off the ignition. Steve had pulled up alongside them, parking with a lurch of the car.

She watched as their mouths moved before either of them got out of the car, listening through the cracked windows of the van as they got out. "...No, Henderson, I guess that I don't get it, why don't you enlighten me??" Steve snapped, slamming his car door as he got out. "Oh my god, Steve, I don't have to explain anything to you. Seriously, it's like you get dumber every year," Dustin snapped back. Eddie looked over to her and made a face, whispering, "I think mom and dad are mad at each other... Do you think they're gonna makeup? Are they finally going to get a divorce? I call Dustin, you can have Steve," he winked at her with a grin. She rolled her eyes and smiled, holding a finger up to her lips, silently shushing him. "Oh, and another thing, Steve, maybe if you weren't so flipping caught up in the great chase of the tail, you'd find a girl that could actually stand you. It's not like it's hard to be nice to people, especially girls!" Steve let out a mocking laugh and took Dustin's bait. "Oh, oh, is that so, Henderson? Is that really what you think?" Dustin flung his arms up in the air, nodding wildly. "Yes, Steve, that's what we all think! I've been with Suzie for four years, long distance, and she still likes me! Because I'm nice to her!" Eddie was chuckling, now, gesturing to them as if to say, can you believe this? and shaking his head. "I mean, hell, Steve, even Eddie has settled down. Even he has it figured out, dude! Just be nice to one girl, not moderately tolerable to every girl." Liz's eyes widened as she snorted. "No, really, he has a point," she said softly, entertained by the fact that Dustin was giving relationship advice to Steve Harrington. "--And I get it man, go wild, sow your wild oats, or whatever, but at some point, if you're gonna live the great Harrington Fantasy of sixty-five-freakin'-kids all living in an RV, or whatever, you'll have to pick one girl, who, by the way, will have to be insane to want to have that many kids with you. Who wants that many kids? You hate kids! You'll still be the babysitter!" Eddie's grin fell and he stared over at Liz, whose mouth was now hanging open. "Shots fired," Eddie muttered, glancing at his mirror to look and see what Steve's reaction was going to be. Steve just looked defeated. "Dustin, I have dated every girl in Hawkins-" he started, but Dustin interrupted. "No, Steve, you've felt up every girl in Hawkins, there's a difference. And by the way, taking a girl flowers after she finds out that you were dating her and three of her friends, at the same time, is not going to make them like you. At this point, it's a miracle that you're not involuntarily celibate!" Eddie was staring at his lap, now, eyebrows raised, lips pressed into a thin line.

Suddenly, it felt less like a playful argument, and more like Dustin was sick and tired of Steve. Liz held her breath, waiting for Steve to respond. Finally, she heard him. "Alright, Henderson. You find me one girl, and I'll do everything you said, and we'll see who's right," his voice was low, like he was upset. "Oh-ho, well good luck to me! Maybe by some stroke of luck from god, I'll be able to find you a woman, Steve, another woman for you to run off. News flash, dude, you're never going to find a girl if you keep wanting them all to be Nancy. She's over it, Steve, and you should be too. Hell, she was so sick of you and Jonathan, that she's with Robin, now! You turned her gay, dude." Liz slapped her hand over her face, shocked that Dustin would drop that bomb on Steve, who was genuinely oblivious to the fact that his ex-girlfriend and his best friend were actually dating. "Wait," Steve said slowly, "they- they're together, together?" Liz darted her eyes to the mirror on her door, watching to see how Dustin reacted. His face fell as he realized that he'd just told Steve something that he didn't already know. "Steve, I thought that you knew," he said softly. Steve laughed in disbelief. "So the only two women that I've ever actually potentially had real feelings for, are actually in love with each other?" Dustin stood stiff, not sure how to respond, or how Steve was going to react if he said anything else. Liz and Eddie were frozen, holding their breath and waiting in silence to hear what else would be said. Finally, Dustin spoke up, again. "Yeah, Steve. They are. Or at least, they seem to be. You're with us almost every day, and it's not like Mike was keeping it hush-hush. Robin even stayed at the Wheeler's house when they were here for a couple of weeks this summer. I mean, dude, they were holding hands and everything," Liz could hear the panic in his voice, and started to move to get out of the car, stopping suddenly when Eddie grabbed her thigh, shaking his head silently, not looking up from his lap. He was chewing on his lip, now, and looked like he was spacing out.

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