Love Grows: Steve Harrington's Girl Next Door

1984: Melt the Ice

"Hey, Steve."

"Hey, Rosemary."

The boy next door slams his car door shut, and walks over to crane his neck at the girl up the ladder, placing the finishing touches to the Christmas lights outside her house. After, she jumps safely down, planting her feet which are actually wearing boots for once, but only because of the snow.

As soon as she lands, Steve's eyes crack open in realisation when he properly sees her. Short hair. Cow-licked and messy, tickling the nape of her neck and sharp contours of her cheekbones. But most importantly, highlighting the brightness of her eyes, more than they ever have been before.

"Uh, what happened to your hair?" He asks, blushing involuntarily.

"Oh." She, too, blushes, frost-nipped cheeks turning even more pink. "Cut it off."

"S'pretty," Steve mumbles.

"Thanks."

"But, why? May I ask?" He smirks in wonder at her.

Rosemary nods her head to the side, pouting in thought and deciding whether or not to tell him.

Then, she answers, "Boy at school grabbed it, said he'd like to pull my hair in more ways than one."

Shock shoots right through Steve from his head to his toes, sending his blood boiling.

"What?!" He snaps. "I'll kill that motherfucker!" But he instantly freezes, especially when he registers the way her brow arches suddenly up. So, he corrects himself, tongue-tied and flustered. "I mean, who- who even said that?!"

Rosemary self-consciously tucks a tuft behind her ear whilst dropping her gaze to her feet shifting in the snow.

"Eugene Hoover," she answers.

"Eugene Hoover," Steve deadpans with hooded eyes. "Let me tell you something about Eugene Hoover. Few years ago at summer camp, he gave all the girls mono, then cried on the phone to his mom begging her to pick him up. Don't be letting that asshole tell you shit."

This revelation wins her over, and her features soften before she breaks into a snort. And Steve smiles, pleased to have made even the tiniest bit of difference to her day.

Her gaze drifts across to his car, then to his jolly red sweater contrasted brightly against the white backdrop of Hawkins at winter.

"Been somewhere special?" She asks.

"Just the Snow Ball, helping out a buddy of mine."

"Oof, the Snow Ball." She grimaces, reminded of the time he asked her to go, the time she rejected him. "Not still sore about that hopefully?"

"Not as sore as Eugene Hoover's gonna be when I see him at school Monday." Steve grins like a devil.

"You wouldn't."

"I would."

"Isn't that a little unnecessary?"

"Like hell it is," Steve insists. "He's toast."

"And what'd Nancy think?" Rosemary counters with a knowing smile, eyebrows raised questioningly. "If she knew you were charging in like a knight in shining armour for me?"

Steve stalls. "Uhhh," he begins, then glances up to meet his neighbour's expectant stare. "Nancy's with Jonathan now."

"I see," she says, understanding slowly creeping in.

A voice calls from within, light and airy with a subtle, southern drawl. Rosemary's mom.

She chides her daughter with, "Rosebud, what'd I tell you about being out here too long? You'll catch your death!"

"Sorry, ma!" Rosebud responds.

"Is that Steve with you?" Her mother squints from the front door. "Are you staying for dinner, sugar?"

Rosemary whips her face back round to Steve with a spark of excitement dazzling behind her eyes.

She quietly asks him, "Your folks away again?" And when he wordlessly nods, she calls back to the house, "Oh yeah! He's staying alright! If that's okay, momma?"

"Wait, wait-" Steve tries to protest.

But her mom already shouts cheerily from the porch, "I'll warm an extra plate!" Then, the woman vanishes into the house and presumably, the kitchen.

Touched and unsure what to do with himself, Steve lowers his face to Rosemary's level.

He whispers, "You didn't have to do that for me, y'know?"

"Don't be silly." She slips her hand into his much larger, much stronger one, and tugs him along behind her. "It's the least I can do for my hero. Besides, it's Christmas."

Inhaling a large swell of the sense of belonging, Steve squares his shoulders and resigns himself to her lead, letting her guide him into the house before shutting the cold out behind them.