Brave Like You (Steve Harrington)

Eleven.

-Steve-

"So, have you tried to ask Candy out again?" Dustin asked as I drove him home.

"No," I admit, "Not again. Not after she said no last time."

"She will come around soon," Dustin assured me, "I can feel it."

"Oh you can?" I joked with him, and he chuckled.

"Yeah, I can tell by the way she looks at you," He sounded very confident as he said this. Like he was totally sure of it.

I suppressed the urge to laugh at him. "And how is that? Smarty Pants?"

He answered swiftly. "The way Nancy never did."

I looked at him in shock. The kid had some balls to say that out loud. "Sorry, that was too forward of me," he said, "It's just the truth. She's into you."

"She won't even go on date with me," I remind him, turning my eyes back to the road.

His confidence came back, and he went back to saying what was on his mind. "Because she wants something real with you, idiot. She wants to be sure you're over your ex."

"Yeah," I sighed, "I know."

"You should get her something nice for Christmas," He suggests, acting like it was such a great idea. "Show her how much you like her. What does she like?"

"Cheerleading," I said, shrugging, "And certain pop music artists."

Dustin eyes me like he couldn't believe what I just said. "You've been friends for over a month now and that's all you've learned about her?"

"She likes books too," I added, "She's always got some kind of romance novel with her."

I could tell that the gears in Henderson's brain were turning as he thought hard about this. "Okay, well, you don't want to get her anything she already has. Aren't you also friends with Candy's best friend?"

"Robin?" I ask, scoffing, "Nah, she hates me."

Dustin was sticking to his headstrong nature. "Well maybe she won't if you tell her you want to get her best friend something for her for Christmas. Something that she will love."

"No," I say, shaking my head, "Robin hates me. She doesn't want Candy and I together."

"Whelp, she's just going to have to deal with it," Dustin says, sounding matter-of-fact as we pull into his driveway.

"See you around, man," I told him as I unlocked the car.

He grips the door handle. "See ya, thanks for the ride."

"Anytime," I tell him as he gets out of my car. I watch him enter his house before I pull out of the driveway. He was a good kid, very smart and attentive, and he was funny as hell, too. I enjoyed being his friend, honestly.

That Monday, after Mrs. Click's class, I stopped Robin in the hall to ask her about our friend. "I've been thinking of getting something for Candy for Christmas."

"Oh really? How nice of you," She said, not looking at me but keeping her eyes forward showing no interest in this topic.

I wasn't going to let her tear me down this time. "Listen, I know for whatever reason you don't like me, but I know you care about Candy, okay? And this is for her. I like her, I really, really like her. But she won't go out on a date with me until she's convinced that I'm over Nancy."

"Are you?" She asks, looking at me now. She stopped at a locker and began scrolling in the combination to open it.

"Not entirely," I admit, "It still really hurts, of course."