••••• "Don't don't you want me? / You know I can't believe it when you say that you don't need me" •••••
"This might be the stupidest thing I've ever gotten myself involved in, but I'm in."
In which Steve Harrington and Kimberly Henderson go from be...
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Hopper had been wrong about Steve Harrington. Yes, Steve was an arrogant idiot, but he did end up leaving Kim. The rest of that summer, the two friends still hung out, getting into less trouble than normal to appease Hopper. But the humid summer turned to a breezy fall, and Kim finally entered high school. It had been one thing when Steve had hung out with the younger girl outside of school, but a whole different thing in front of his cool, popular friends. Steve put aside his friendship and his feelings for Kim so he could keep ruling the school as 'King Steve.'
Completely confused as to what she had done to deserve being deserted, Kim tried to put on a brave face for Freshmen year. Anytime she saw Steve in the hallway, she kept her chin up and didn't bother to look in his direction. As much as she presented an unbothered facade, Kim felt a little like part of herself was missing without Steve. Ever since the Henderson family had moved to Hawkins when Kim was in 7th grade, the pair had quickly become friends.
The Henderson girl and Harrington boy had first met outside the school on Kim's first day at Hawkins Middle. Kim, the new girl, was the target of bullies everywhere. Silly kids; they'd picked the wrong girl to mess with. When Carol Perkins had tried to trip Kim on her way to the bike rack, Kim had retaliated by pushing the red head. Shocked and trying to save face, Carol had taunted her and shoved her back. Without hesitation, Kim swung her fist, leaving Carol with a nasty black eye for a few weeks.
Steve, an 8th grader at the time, had walked out of the middle school just as other students had started to gather, egging on the cat fight. Steve had forced his way to the front of the crowd, trying to see what all the commotion was about. When he saw the new girl throw a punch at one of his friends, he almost laughed. Carol probably deserved it. When Carol tried to reach for the new girl's hair and tug her to the pavement, Steve intervened.
"Woah, woah, woah," he forced his way between the two girls. "Okay, yeah, that's enough."
"She started it," Carol whined, pointing a perfectly manicured nail in Kim's direction.
"Bullshit!" Kim spat, glaring daggers at the two 8th graders.
Steve let out a huff, arm still out stretched to keep the two girls from clawing each others eyes out. "Carol, just leave it. Go home. You've been provoking her all day."
Carol harrumphed, finally giving up the fight. She couldn't believe Steve was siding with some stupid, scrawny 7th grader over her. She turned on her heal, ginger pony tail slicing through the air like a blade, before walking over to the high school to get a ride home from her older brother.
"You okay?" Steve asked the new girl, finally giving her his full attention now that Carole was gone and the crowd had started to disperse around them.
Instead of being grateful like Steve had thought she would be, the new girl continued to glare. "I didn't need your help, ass hole."
Steve blinked at her with wide eyes, unsure of what to say. "I-I know," he tried for a small smile. "I stepped in to save Carol. Looked like she needed it." When she only stared at him in response, Steve went on. He'd never been a big fan of awkward silences. "I'm, uh, Steve, by the way. Steve Harrington."
