fireworks - steve harrington

2.05

MEDIUM WELL

"Alright, so let me get this straight," Steve said as he threw down a few pieces of meat on the railroad tracks. "You kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl who you just met?"

"That's grossly oversimplifying things."

"My question is," Ren started, "why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway? Actually, why would anyone like it?"

"An interdimensional slug? Because it's awesome."

Ren considered that and nodded. "Alright, that's valid."

"Dude, even if she thought it was cool, which she didn't... I don't know, have you considered that maybe you're trying too hard?"

"Well not everyone can have your perfect hair or Ren's perfect ass."

Ren blushed and Steve said, "He's right." But then he turned back to Dustin. "It's not about the hair, or the ass for that matter, though those things do give you an extra boost with the ladies. The key with girls is just acting like you don't care." Ren scoffed and shook his head in disapproval.

"Even if you do?"

"Yeah, exactly. It drives them nuts." No it doesn't, Steve.

"Then what?"

"You just wait until you feel it."

"Feel what?"

"It's like before it's gonna storm. You can't see it, but you can feel it, like this, uh, electricity."

Where are you going with this, Steve Harrington, Ren thought, deeply disapproving of the conversation, especially considering Steve didn't have much experience with girls.

"Like in the electromagnetic field when the clouds in the atmosphere--"

"No, no, no. Like a sexual electricity."

Oh boy.

"You feel that and then you make your move."

"So that's when you kiss her?"

"No way, slow down, Romeo. Some girls want you to be aggressive, strong, hot and heavy like a lion. But with others, you have to be slow, stealthy, like a ninja."

"How do you know all this and you haven't had a girlfriend for like a year?"

"Well, you, uh, you see," he stuttered, "I-I just know these things. I've been around enough. Stop asking me questions."

Dustin stared at him for a moment, as if he was studying Steve, which just made him uncomfortable. "You're in a relationship, aren't you?"

"No." Ren's heart involuntarily dropped even though they weren't telling people. They couldn't tell people.

"No offense, but you're a horrible liar. You've got this weird happy-relationship-glow going on, and it's annoying."

Steve's cheeks turned a very deep shade of pink. "I, uh, I do?"

"Yeah, so does Ren." Steve started to say something, but Dustin interrupted him. "Before you ask or say something stupid, yes, I know. And yes, I'm cool with it. It's obvious. You and Ren are dating. Again, like I said before, you're a horrible liar."

Ren cleared his throat. "For my own peace of mind, what tipped you off?"

"I overheard your conversation at your house earlier while I was in the car. You weren't quiet about it. And Steve hasn't been able to focus much on the task at hand. He's been too busy staring at you or your ass. To be honest, I'm glad you're behind us because otherwise he might be drooling right about now."

"You're a bit of a shithead, you know that?" Steve teased.

"Yeah, I know."

"You tell anyone about us and your ass is grass. You're dead, Henderson. Got it?"

"Got it."

When they finally reached the junkyard, they dropped the last of the raw meat on the ground in a pile. Then they heard someone yell, "I said medium well!"

They all looked up and saw Lucas Sinclair with a girl. "Who's that?" Ren asked. When Dustin didn't answer, and looked on longingly as if he were in a depressing romance movie, both Ren and Steve realised that she was the girl he was talking about.

The two older boys started setting things up to trap the creature, but after a few minutes, the only other person helping them out was the girl, whose name they still didn't know. So Steve took it upon himself to scold the other two for not assisting them. He stomped over to Dustin and Lucas and hit the car they were sitting behind twice in a row. "Hey, idiots! How come the only one helping me and Ren is this random girl? We lose light in 40 minutes, let's go!"

For the next hour, they proceeded to make a bus into a sort of fort, with metal covering all the windows. They all piled into the makeshift fort and waited.