A/N [from 2023] Merry...St. Patrick's Day? This was supposed to be a Christmas bonus chapter and uhhhh it's about three months late. Oops!

This was just going to be a short thing and now it's practically novella length. Idk what happens when I write for this fic! It's like I black out and then blink and I've written five new scenes!

This is formatted differently than a usual chapter. It takes place in April 1986 (so in between two sections of the final chapter of Part 4). It also includes flashbacks discussing Alice and Steve's "firsts."  It jumps back and forth pretty abruptly, but anytime you see the three heart emojis (💜💜💜) we're either going into a flashback or back to 1986. 

TW for language and mentions and discussions about sex (but no smut or graphic descriptions of sex itself). Mean comments about girls being easy (NOT made by Steve, he's a feminist king). Brief mentions of nightmares and Vecna stuff. I did also incorporate dialogue from my favorite scene of Sex Lives of College Girls on HBOMax so if you're like, "Hey, I know this!" that's where it's from lol.

Finally, I gotta dedicate this chapter to my favorite person on Wattpad, dash-of-clarity! Thank you for giving some feedback on a snippet of this and for being such a great friend and fellow writer. Clara is also the inventor of the build-your-own-story trend that's going around so go show her new fic King of the Court some love!

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Some Late Night in April, 1986

Alice Henderson couldn't sleep.

A few weeks prior, Vecna's claws scratched three deep gashes from under her left arm to just below her belly button. Alice had needed a blood transfusion, and the thick, chunky stitches across those wounds itched like crazy.

She still had two weeks before they would be taken out, and they were driving her insane.

Alice tossed and turned, accidentally waking the boy that slept beside her.

"You okay, Al?" Steve Harrington said, voice hoarse with exhaustion as he lifted himself onto his elbows to get a closer look at her face.

"I'm about to scratch these stupid Frankenstein stitches right out of my skin," Alice grumbled.

"You don't look like Frankenstein."

"I do. It sucks."

"Well, at least we match," Steve said. He lifted his pajama shirt to show off the smaller set of stitches on his ribs and hips, courtesy of the demobats. "See? We're peas in a pod."

Alice got distracted by the sight of his toned torso.

"Huh?" she mumbled out, practically drooling. If she couldn't sleep, maybe she could convince Steve to engage in other activities...

"Perv," Steve said with a good-natured eye roll, pulling his shirt back down. "C'mere."

He opened his arms and Alice curled into his side. They intertwined, cuddling close as their heartbeats synchronized.

"I can't sleep," Alice said, voice muffled as she spoke into Steve's chest. "Tell me a story?"

"A story? What about?"

"Anything happy."

Steve searched his memories for something, anything. He settled on a faint memory from his sophomore year Spanish class. A content smile bloomed on his face.

"Yeah," he said, "okay. I've got a story for you. It all started in Señor Juarez's class, spring 1983..."

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Their First Meeting — Spanish 102, May 1983

Except for seeing his friends and playing sports, Steve Harrington strongly disliked school.

Spanish with Señor Juarez was his final period of the day, and it always seemed to drag on. Juarez wasn't a very exciting speaker, instead droning on with a monotone that could put the most caffeinated person to sleep.

Plus, Spanish 102 was filled with freshmen. Except for one new kid and a German exchange student, Steve was the only sophomore in the class. He tried to play it off like that didn't bother him, but it did. It made him feel behind. Feel stupid.

"Get into groups of two, por favor," Señor Juarez said, bringing Steve's focus back to the lesson at hand and out of his self-loathing spiral. "Spend the rest of class on this verb conjugation worksheet. Work together and ask each other for help if needed."

Steve leaned forward, hoping to charm the pretty girl sitting in front of him so she'd be his partner. However, before he could speak, someone tapped his shoulder.

He turned. The freshman who sat behind him—Allison? Alana?—had her frizzy hair tamed into French braids. She wore a Care Bears t-shirt and calculator watch, and she nervously picked at her chipped purple fingernails as she spoke.

"Want to work with me?" she said, lisping slightly due to the braces glinting on her teeth.

Steve cringed.

"Oh, sorry," he said, shooting her an apologetic grin. "I think I'm going to work with..."

He trailed off and sighed when the girl he wanted to team up with wandered over to the German exchange student.

"Great," Steve muttered. "Uh, sure. We can work together. I'm Steve. Steve Harrington."

If this freshman knew who he was due to his popularity, she didn't show it.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Alice. So, Spanish verbs..."

Steve tuned out Alice as she began working through question one. There was nothing wrong with her, but she was...how to put this nicely...a nerd. A huge nerd. And she dressed like a preschooler.

Steve needed to distance himself from nerds to keep from becoming the newest target of Tommy H.'s ridicule.

It's just one assignment, Steve thought. And then I never have to talk to her again.

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Alice detangled herself from Steve's arms and glared at him.

"Don't give me that look," Steve pleaded. "You know I'm not like that anymore."

"Fine. Just get on with the story," Alice said with a huff. She settled on her side and faced him, leaving a wider gap between them than usual.

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Steve's body language and short, one-word answers gave Alice the idea that he really didn't want to talk. The two of them ended up working on the worksheet separately.

Alice finished it fairly quickly, and then pulled a book out of her backpack to read for leisure. Steve noticed that Alice had tucked a Spider-Man comic within the pages of her hefty copy of War and Peace to read about the webslinger's adventures secretly.

"That's pretty clever," Steve said, nodding in the direction of the book.

"Thanks," Alice said. "My mom was getting on me for reading comics all the time. I had to get her off my back somehow. Now, who would win a fight: Green Goblin or Mysterio?"

Steve blinked once. Twice.

"I have no idea who those people are," he said flatly.

"They're part of the Sinister Six," Alice explained. "They're this group of villains that fight Spider-Man..."

As Alice rambled about the Sinister Six, Steve glanced at his unfinished worksheet—he was only on question two of ten. He then glanced at the clock. They only had about 7 minutes until class ended.

Shame washed over Steve. He could practically hear his dad's voice in his head, calling him a dumbass and a waste of space.

"No offense," Steve snapped with narrowed eyes, interrupting Alice, "but I don't really give a shit."

Alice's excited expression dropped. She visibly seemed to shrink in on herself, wilting like a flower.

Steve immediately felt guilty.

"Shit. I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Alice said coolly, lifting her book/comic once more.

"Five more minutes," Señor Juarez called. "Be sure to finish up."

Alice heard Steve grumbling to himself. She glanced at his unfinished paper.

"Need some help?" she said.

Steve opened his mouth to retort that he didn't need some freshman to help and that he was fine on his own...but that would be a bold-faced lie.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "I just don't understand this shit. But if I turn in another unfinished assignment, I'll fail and get kicked off the swim team."

"This is tough stuff. Let's work on it together."

The two of them spent the last few minutes of class talking through the answers. Alice admitted she found some of the subject matter a bit hard to understand too, but they finished each question to the best of their ability.

"Thanks for helping me," Steve said as the two of them walked out of class. "Even though I was kind of a dick."

"Nah," Alice said. "You're not a dick. You were just frustrated. I'll save my Sinister Six spiel for another time."

Steve snorted and said, "I look forward to it."

Alice waved goodbye and made her way to her locker. Over her shoulder she called, "Hey, good luck at your swim meet!"

"Oh, thanks, Alice."

As Steve shoved books and papers into his own locker, he stole glances at Alice down the hall. Before he could string together any coherent thoughts about her, Carol and Tommy H. swooped in.

"Look at her!" Tommy said with a cackle. "God, this is hard to watch."

"Huh?" Steve said with a frown.

"Frizzy hair, dumb babyish clothes, definitely never had a boyfriend—yikes. And she's who you've got an eye on? How the mighty have fallen."

"What?!" Steve sputtered. "No! We're just in Spanish together."

"Good," Carol said. "Because if you dragged her under the bleachers for some of the King Steve treatment, she'd probably combust."

Steve's cheeks reddened.

"Shut up," he muttered.

He shot her one last look. A pretty brunette in a pink sweater joined Alice by her locker. Steve's heartbeat quickened.

"Her friend's kinda hot though," he mumbled, before shutting his locker door and heading toward the buses for the swim meet.

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"So what is this story, exactly?" Alice asked, leaning up on her elbow.

"It's how we met!" Steve said. "Our origin story! Like when Spider-Man's uncle got shanked. So we can look back and laugh at how dumb we were for not realizing sooner that we're soulmates."

Alice swooned a bit at the mention of soulmates.

"Uncle Ben got shot," Alice said, "but I appreciate the effort. Uh, you don't happen to remember the next time we talked, do you?"

Steve scrunched his eyebrows together.

"Uhhh, it was the homecoming game, right?"

"Yep. Let me paint you a picture..."

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Their Second Meeting — Homecoming Football Game, October, 1983

"Did Nancy tell you anything about this guy?"

"Nothing! Al, are we sure he really exists?"

Alice and her friend Barb Holland stood outside the Hawkins High football stadium. They waited for Nancy and her new gentleman friend to arrive—supposedly, some hottie had asked her to the homecoming dance, and he was going to join their trio for the homecoming game.

Alice was painfully curious to know who he was. Nancy was always so secretive about her crushes.

"What if it's Tommy L.?" Alice wondered aloud. "He's in a band. That's kind of hot."

"No way," Barb said. "I bet it's that guy Daniel Rich. He's had a crush on her since they danced together at the eighth grade Snow Ball."

Neither of them were correct. They were both shocked to see Nancy walk up arm in arm with Steve Harrington, co-captain of the swim and basketball teams.

"Hi!" Nancy said, cheeks a bit flushed—either from the weather or because she and Steve just got back from making out, Alice wasn't sure. "Barb, Alice, this is Steve. Steve, these are my friends Barb and Alice."

Alice opened her mouth to say that she and Steve already know each other, and make some joke in Spanish. Before she could, Steve stuck out a hand to shake and said, "Hey! Really good to meet you."

Annoyance flashed on Alice's face at being forgotten. But she politely smiled, shook his hand and said, "You too, man."

Steve and Barb shook hands next, and then he held up four tickets to the game.

"How much do we owe you?" Alice said, pulling her wallet out to pay him back.

"No need. My treat!"

Barb and Alice shared a look. That was a perk.

"Let's go in!" Nancy said. Steve threw an arm over her shoulder and led her to their seats, Barb and Alice following close behind.

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"Yeah," Steve said, a sheepish smile creeping over his cheeks. "That wasn't my finest moment."

Alice sighed and threw a hand over her heart. She fell back on her pillows overdramatically.

"Woe is me," she said sarcastically. "Forgotten like a piece of common garbage."

"You can't blame me for not recognizing you right away!" Steve protested. "You didn't have braces anymore, and your hair was different!"

"Excuses, excuses," Alice teased. She ran a hand through Steve's hair, gently scratching at his scalp in that way she knew he liked. The action caused him to close his eyes sleepily. "You're lucky I don't hold grudges. Well, don't hold grudges against the people I love."

"If I recall," Steve said, eyes popping open once more, "we had a pretty interesting conversation that day. I made you blush."

He gently poked at Alice's cheek, trying to make her blush for him again. She rolled her eyes.

"I made myself blush because I said something stupid."

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During the third quarter, Nancy and Barb headed to get concessions, leaving Steve and Alice all alone.

An awkward silence stretched between the two of them, until Steve cleared his throat and said, "So, Alice, what do you like to do?"

"I'm in the drama club," Alice said, "and I collect and read comics."

"Oh, that's...cool!"

"You think it's lame," Alice said dryly.

"No!" Steve said. But his voice was an octave higher than usual, indicating a lie.

"It's fine if you do," Alice said. "Being called 'lame' isn't the worst thing that could happen."

"I don't think it's lame, I swear. I love nerd shit! Not that it's shit! I meant to say nerd stuff."

Alice scanned Steve's face for a moment, ruminating.

"What's your angle?" she said.

"Huh?"

"You trying to butter me up, or something?" Alice continued. "So I don't give you the shovel talk?"

"What the hell is a shovel talk?"

"It's the talk a girl's friends give her boyfriend," Alice said. "You know, like: 'Don't you dare hurt her, or I'll hit you over the head with a shovel and then use it to bury you in the woods, and no one will ever find your body.'"

"Jesus," Steve said with a low whistle, scooting a few inches away from Alice on the cold bench. "That's morbid."

"It's the nature of the shovel talk! Haven't you ever gotten one before?"

"No!"

"Well, I'm honored to be your first," Alice said. She blushed beet red and forced out an awkward laugh. "Wait, that came out wrong."

Steve snickered.

"I promise I won't hurt Nancy," he said, a hand over his heart. "So please put your shovel away."

"Fine, I will. For now."

The two of them shared a smile as Nancy and Barb returned, taking their seats on either side of Alice and Steve. Due to the crowds, Alice and Steve got shoved together until their shoulders were touching.

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"How come none of our friends gave me a shovel talk for dating you?" Steve wondered aloud.

"Robin wanted to," Alice said, "but I begged her not to. If you think mine was morbid, you don't want to hear hers. It's chilling."

"She's a great friend," Steve said. "Remember when the three of us hung out and watched movies all night?"

"Oh yeah," Alice said. "That's back when she still hated you! Why were we together again? The three of us never did anything alone before this past year."

"It doesn't matter why," Steve said quickly. "Hey, want to make out?"

He leaned over to kiss Alice, but she put a finger on his lips to stop him.

"Hold on," she said. "What are you hiding? Why are you...oh."

An unhappy memory, one that Alice had tried so much to forget, popped into her head.

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Their First Heart-to-Heart — March, 1984

Tonight, the Hawkins High Varsity Basketball Team was going to play their rival school, Eagleton Prep.

Steve and a few of his teammates sat outside for lunch, taking advantage of the nice weather. They crowded together on the bleachers and discussed their plans for after the game.

Steve still had a few good friends on the basketball team, but he preferred spending time with Nancy and her friends—most notably, Alice. And through Alice, he'd met even more new friends...except Robin Buckley, who despised him for no good reason.

Tommy H. made some obnoxious joke about how the girls at Eagleton Prep are easy, causing him to get a bunch of laughs from some of the meatheads on the team. Steve and his co-captain Ben shared an uncomfortable look.

"You're a goddamn pig," Ben said, shoving Tommy H. "Cut it out."

"Aw, come on!" Tommy whined. "Don't tell me you're turning into a big pussy like Steve."

Tommy patted Steve on the back too hard, causing the latter boy to stumble forward and drop his sandwich. Tommy cackled and Steve glared at him.

"Thanks for that," Steve snapped.

Tommy H. gave him a smug grin before continuing his misogynistic tirade.

Steve gathered his things and left, uninterested in sticking around. He threw out his now-ruined sandwich and noticed Alice stomping past him, beelining toward the parking lot.

"Hey, Al!" Steve said, his mood immediately brightening at the sight of a friend. "What's up?"

She ignored him, arms crossed over her body. Steve frowned when he heard her sniffling.

"Hey, you okay?" he said, jogging to catch up with her breakneck pace.

"Leave me alone," she croaked. Tears welled in her eyes, making them glassy.

"Whoa, what happened?"

"I said leave me alone!" Alice said louder. She started unlocking her bike lock with shaking hands.

Steve crossed his arms.

"No way. Not until you tell me what's going on."

"I just don't feel well," Alice mumbled. She sniffled again as the tears began rolling down her cheeks. "I need to go home."

"Well, at least let me drive—"

"I don't need you to drive me, Steve!" Alice snapped. For the first time today, she looked him in the eye, her own eyes reddened from crying. "I'm fine."

Steve glanced around to make sure no one was listening. He leaned in closer and whispered, "Does this have to do with last fall? Or your new doctors?"

He didn't have to elaborate. Alice knew what he meant: was she upset because of Barb's death, the demogorgon attack, her coma, and the Hawkins Lab appointments she was now forced to have? And while those things did cause her grief, that wasn't the issue today.

"No," Alice said. "Just drop it, Steve. Good luck in your game today. Sorry I won't be able to make it."

"Hold on, just wait—"

She mounted her bike and pedaled away before Steve could stop her. He watched her go, frown deepening.

Steve spent all afternoon worrying about her, wondering what was going on. He tried to find Nancy to ask if she knew anything, but Nancy was MIA as well.

In fact, during the first half of the basketball game, Steve checked the stands for his girlfriend. She promised she'd be there cheering him on, and yet...she was nowhere to be seen.

Nancy's absence plus the fact that Jonathan Byers—the school paper's photographer—wasn't standing courtside snapping photos like usual made Steve's stomach turn.

Steve forced all the insecurities and worries out of his mind and focused on the game. The Tigers fought valiantly, but lost by four points.

In the locker room, Steve showered and changed out of his uniform, thanking Ben for inviting him to an afterparty but politely declining.

As he walked out of the gym, he overheard a senior named Peter Prentiss talking with some boys from the JV team. Peter Prentiss was the varsity team's resident bench rider. He was acting like some kind of comedian, telling a story and laughing.

"I couldn't believe it," Peter cackled. "Like, this girl seriously thought I wanted to be her boyfriend. She might actually be delusional."

"Why'd you even go out with her anyway?" a sophomore named Jason Carver said.

"Honestly?" Peter said. "She was hot. I was bored. I figured I'd take her out a few times, see what happens. But I didn't think she'd actually put out. Dude, it was insane. I had her wrapped around my finger. She did whatever I asked."

"That sounds like the perfect girl!" Jason said.

"On paper, yeah. I thought we could've really worked out...but she's such a fucking weirdo. Getting through dates was painful. And she kept wanting to talk after sex. Every. Single. Time. Like, about our feelings and shit. I decided I'd sleep with her once more and then end it, so I took her to Enzo's two nights ago."

Steve slowed to a stop, kneeling to tie his shoes and pretending not to eavesdrop. He had a bitter taste in his mouth, remembering that earlier this week, Alice mentioned some Enzo's date with a mystery guy that she was excited to go on.

"Afterwards," Peter continued, "I took her back to my place. We had the place to ourselves, so I said the usual bullshit about how I felt connected to her and how pretty she was. Blah, blah, blah. Then I asked if she wanted to come upstairs. She was so eager, it's almost pathetic."

The JV boys hooted and hollered. Steve, on the other hand, saw red.

"I'm done with her now," Peter said. "I told her so today. Hey, I got what I wanted."

"Who is she?" Jason asked.

Peter grinned like a shark. "Her name is Al—"

"Prentiss!" Steve shouted, cutting him off and walking into the group. He put his hands on his hips. "I need to talk to you. Alone."

"Can it wait?" Peter said. "I'm in the middle of a story."

"No, it can't," Steve said. "It's very important varsity team business." He turned to the JV boys and glared. "Scram."

The three younger boys gulped and zipped away.

"What's up?" Peter said in a bored drawl.

"I gotta say man, I don't like the way you talk about women."

"Huh? I thought this was about basketball!"

"It is." Steve jabbed a finger in Peter's chest. "You're a Tiger, and that means being a good example for the rest of the school. You can't exactly be that if you're a misogynistic dick."

Peter scoffed and glared.

"Whatever man. Tommy H. is right. You are a pussy."

Peter turned to stalk away. Steve grabbed his arm to stop him, a little rougher than necessary.

"Who's the girl?" Steve said, voice deadly calm.

"What girl?"

"Don't play dumb, Prentiss. The girl from your story, the one you treated like garbage. Who is she?"

Peter smirked, the poster child for sleazeballs everywhere.

"It's your girlfriend's little friend. Alice Henderson. For a total dweeb, she's surprisingly good in the sack."

Rage. Steve felt nothing but rage. To hear that one of his good friends got treated so badly by a creep like Peter sent him over the edge.

Steve, without thinking of consequences, punched Peter in the nose.

"Aw, shit!" Peter cried out. He glared and swung, but Steve easily dodged the counterattack.

Peter was a bench rider for a reason—slow reflexes. Steve easily overpowered him, pinning one of the boy's arms behind his back.

"Let me go, man!" Peter snapped, wriggling in Steve's hold.

Steve squeezed his arm harder, causing Peter to groan in pain.

"Don't talk about Alice," Steve said, a dangerous edge to his voice. "Ever again."

"Come on, dude! There's no harm in—"

"In telling the JV creeps they should 'take her for a spin' like she's a used car?" Steve spat. "You're disgusting."

"Oh, like you're such a saint!" Peter said, cackling again. "Aren't you the one who let Tommy H. call your girlfriend a slut in front of the whole town?"

Flashes of memories barraged Steve's brain: the sound of a rattling spray paint can. The feeling of Jonathan's punching him over and over after Steve said horrible things. The smell of disinfectant as Steve scrubbed the graffiti off the movie theater. The flickering Christmas lights, the demogorgon, the panic in Nancy's eyes when Alice fainted and wouldn't wake up. The way Steve drove the four of them to Hawkins Mercy Hospital while Nancy sobbed beside him and Jonathan continually tried to wake Alice up in the back seat.

Steve pushed those terrifying memories aside. That was all over. Everything was fine. Or, was going to be.

"I made amends for that," Steve said. "If anyone asks, tell them the girl was someone from another school. Don't talk about Alice, don't talk to her, don't even think about her. Understand?"

Peter tried to free himself from Steve once more. "Why do you even care?"

"Alice is my friend," Steve snapped. "And people that disrespect my friends disrespect me."

He applied just the right amount of pressure to Peter's shoulder, making the boy howl and panic.

"OUCH! Okay, okay! I won't tell anyone. Just let go!"

Steve did. Peter shuffled off, shooting Steve a glare—but there was fear behind it.

"I hope you weren't expecting to get off the bench this season!" Steve shouted after him.

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"You said all that to him?" Alice said, eyes wide with bewilderment.

Steve nodded.

"Of course. He deserved it. He deserved worse, actually."

"But how did you and Robin meet up?" Alice said.

"Well," Steve said, "I wanted to check on you, but I figured you also needed a girl friend to talk to about this kind of thing. I couldn't find Nancy, and Maria was at her speech and debate conference. I had seen Robin at the game since she's in band. I headed out to the parking lot, hoping she hadn't left yet."

💜💜💜

"Buckley!" Steve shouted, jogging across the parking lot where Robin Buckley walked toward her mother's waiting minivan.

Robin turned and rolled her eyes.

"What do you want, Harrington?" she said.

"Have you talked to Alice today?" Steve said.

"I saw her in first period," Robin said. She narrowed her eyes. "Why? What's going on?"

Steve ran a hand through his hair and stepped closer. Robin immediately stepped back with a scrunched nose, as if his mere presence disgusted her.

Steve sighed and lowered his voice, explaining his conversation with Alice from lunch and what he'd overheard from Peter.

Robin's facial expression morphed from disgust at Steve to anger at Peter.

"I could kill him," she said—and she sounded 100% serious.

"I'm heading over to Alice's place to check on her," Steve said. "Want to come?"

Robin's eyes widened.

"Wait, really?"

"Uh, yeah. Why is that so shocking to you?"

"I don't know," Robin said. She crossed her arms and assessed Steve, scanning him head to toe. "Al said you guys were friends now, but I thought in the 'acquaintance' way—like how my dad is friends with our plumber. I didn't think you were the check-up-on-each-other type of friends."

"Well, we are," Steve said, trying to keep annoyance from leaching into his tone. "Are you coming or what?"

"Hold your horses, dingus. I need to tell my mom."

Robin bounded over to her mother's car and motioned for Mrs. Buckley to roll the window down. From a few feet away, Steve heard only half the conversation.

"Mom, I'm going over to Alice's. No, I don't think it's a sleepover. Or maybe it will be. We're just going to hang out. Steve's driving me. Steve Harrington. He's standing right there. Yes, he's a student here. No, he's not a criminal! Ugh. STEVE! Tell my mom you aren't a criminal."

Steve awkwardly waved and called, "Uh, I'm not a criminal, ma'am."

"See?" Robin said, ducking her head back through the open window. "Uh-huh. I'll have Steve drive me home tonight, or if I stay over, Alice's mom can tomorrow. No, Steve won't spend the night. Ugh, Mom, he's not a perv. He has a girlfriend. Nancy. Nancy Wheeler. How am I supposed to know if her mom is in your book club! I don't know Nancy's mom! Ugh, I'm going now. See you later. Or tomorrow."

Mrs. Buckley waved to the teens and said, "Have fun! Be safe!" before peeling out of the parking lot.

"And that was twenty questions with Linda Buckley," Robin said with a sigh.

"I counted fifteen," Steve corrected.

Robin laughed. And then realized she was laughing at a joke Steve Harrington made, and immediately stopped.

"Whatever. Where'd you park your car?"

Outside the Henderson house, Robin and Steve knocked on the door and rang the doorbell.

"Alice!" Robin shouted. "Come on, we know you're here! The lights are on!"

"It's Steve and Robin," Steve said. "We just want to see how you're doing."

From behind the closed front door, they heard muffled sobs.

"Just go away!" Alice yelled. "I want to be alone!"

"ALICE!" Robin said. "Please let us in! Steve overheard Peter talking, and we just—"

The door swung open. Alice's face was tear-stained. Her hair was in a messy, sloppy ponytail. Her pajamas were two sizes too big. She looked miserable, face screwed up as she tried not to cry harder.

"What?!" Alice said, voice shaking. "Peter told you?! Oh, god. He's such a loudmouth. Now everyone at school will know!"

"He's not going to tell anyone else," Steve said quickly. "I made sure of that. Can we come in?"

Alice nodded numbly, stepping back and giving them a chance to enter.

Steve had never been inside Alice's house before. It was cozy, covered in throw blankets and family photos. A photo of a man—presumed to be the late Mr. Henderson—hung on the wall next to a portrait of blond-haired, blue-eyed Jesus.

"My mom's kinda religious," Alice mumbled, noticing Steve staring at it. She sniffled and sank into the sofa cushions, pulling her knees to her chest. Robin and Steve took seats on either side of her.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" Robin asked quietly, wrapping an arm around Alice's shoulders.

Alice shook her head, then sighed.

"I mean, you guys already know. Peter and I were seeing each other in secret. Every time we met up, he wanted to sleep with me. The first few times, I told him I wasn't ready. He acted like he was cool with that, so I let my guard down, and I—I don't know. He said he really liked me. He seemed genuine, so I just did it. A few times."

Steve watched as she picked at a loose string on the sofa, twisting and pulling at it. He thought of Peter, twisting and pulling at Alice's heart, manipulating her. It made him angry all over again.

"He avoided me at school yesterday," Alice whispered. "I finally cornered him today and he just—he said it was over. He said he didn't want me anymore."

Alice began to cry harder, covering her face with her hands. Robin immediately pulled her into a tight side hug.

"Why did I trust him?" Alice wailed through sobs. "I'm so stupid!"

"No!" Robin said. "You aren't. Peter is!"

"I'm an idiot!"

"Buckley is right," Steve said. He placed a hand on Alice's shoulder, hoping to provide some semblance of comfort. "That creep manipulated you. He took advantage of you. You aren't in the wrong here."

"He was so cruel to me," Alice sobbed. "Told me I was 'a good lay' but not 'girlfriend material.'"

"Steve, give me your keys," Robin said, face stony. "I'm going to find Peter Prentiss and run him over with your car."

"Can I ride shotgun?" Steve said darkly.

That made Alice laugh, startling the two others.

"Yeah, right," she said, detangling herself from Robin's hug and wiping at her wet eyes. "You two would never last as partners in crime. You bicker too much."

"Let me get you some tea," Robin said. "English breakfast?"

"Yes, please. My mom keeps it in the cabinet above the toaster."

Robin gave a thumbs up before heading toward the kitchen. As she walked past Steve, she whispered, "Don't say anything stupid and make her feel worse, dingus."

As soon as she was gone, Steve asked, "Wait, where's your mom and brother?"

"Out of town," Alice said, "for the regional science fair."

"Is Mike there too?" Steve asked, wondering if that would explain Nancy's absence at the game.

Alice shrugged.

"No clue." She sighed. "I'm glad my family's not around, though. If my mom saw me this upset, she'd grill me until I told her, and then she'd lecture me for having sex, and then she'd sign me up for abstinence camp at church and I'd be even more miserable than I am now."

Steve glanced over at the whitewashed Jesus picture once more. Alice wasn't kidding about her hyper-religious mom.

"I'm really sorry this happened, Al," Steve said. "You deserve someone better. A guy that'll treat you well."

"I don't know if that's in the cards for me," Alice said quietly. She picked at her fingernails. "Ever since I came back to school in January after my coma and hospital stay, everyone at school is treating me different. They're either pitying me, or making up shitty rumors about why I was in the hospital so long, or asking me if I can score them oxycontin. It sucks. But Peter wasn't like that! Or, so I thought. Turns out, he was just a horndog all along."

"A lot of guys are," Steve admitted sheepishly. "But there are some good ones out there. You'll find one. I promise."

"You're one of the good ones, Steve," Alice said, lightly knocking their shoulders together. They shared a smile, but Alice's faded quickly. "I keep playing them over and over in my head."

"Your...nights with Peter?" Steve prompted. He felt uncomfortable at the thought of hearing any lurid details, but he wanted to be a supportive friend for Alice. So he would listen, even if it was a bit weird.

"Yeah. I did want to have sex with him. But for the wrong reason. Because I just wanted to feel normal." She sucked in a breath and got a dazed, faraway look in her eye. "After last fall, I don't know...being a teenage girl with a boyfriend is such a nice, domestic thing. I feel like it'd ground me, you know? Keep me from falling apart at the seams."

"I get it," Steve said. His mind wandered to his relationship with Nancy. "After what we went through, we deserve a sense of normalcy. The small wins."

He omitted his insecurities about his own relationship, not wanting to add his burden to Alice's.

"I wanted my first time to be special," Alice added quietly. "With my first serious boyfriend. But I guess that ship has sailed."

"First times aren't all they're cracked up to be," Steve said. "My first time, I tried to put on Marvin Gaye for mood music, but I got the cassettes mixed up. Amy Martin and I did it to my mom's meditation tape of whale sounds."

Alice's eyes widened.

"No, you did not."

"Unfortunately, yes, we did."

Alice slapped a hand over her mouth, shoulders shaking. This time, she wasn't stifling sobs—she was trying not to laugh.

"Al, it was horrible," Steve continued, hoping to make her feel better. "'Cause, like, we're moaning and stuff—because we're having sex—but the whales are also moaning. I kept thinking, 'Huh, I've never heard this Marvin Gaye song before. Must be a deep cut.'"

That sent Alice over the edge, giggling uproariously. Steve laughed with her, happy to see her in much higher spirits...even if it meant telling his most embarrassing story.

Robin returned from the kitchen, balancing three mugs of tea.

"What's so funny?" she said with a huff.

Alice and Steve shared a look. Alice made a perfect impression of a whale moan, causing them to laugh harder and harder.

"Fine! Don't tell me!" Robin huffed. "I guess we won't watch E.T. then."

"Ooh, you'll let us watch E.T.?!" Alice said with a grin. "You hate that movie! You said the inclusion of Reece's Pieces is a 'soulless, capitalist cash-grab.'"

"And I stand by that! But I can be a sellout just this once to make you feel better. Harrington, you good with some Spielberg?"

"Sounds good to me," Steve said.

Alice popped the tape into her VCR and the trio settled on the couch for a Steven Spielberg marathon that lasted long into the night. By the next day, Peter Prentiss had been forgotten.

💜💜💜

Alice leaned over and kissed Steve's jaw, sending goosebumps down his arms. She went to whisper something dirty in his ear...

...and instead, roared like a Beluga.

"Ack! Cut it out!" Steve said, playfully swatting at her chest. Alice laughed and laughed.

"What's wrong?" she said, batting her eyelashes. "The whale sounds don't do it for you anymore?"

"For the last time," Steve said, "that was a mistake."

"Uh-huh, sure, man."

"It was!"

"I don't believe you."

"Oh, yeah?" Steve challenged. Before Alice could even blink, he started tickling her sides.

"Hahaha, quit it!" she giggled, trying to roll away without falling off the bed.

"Better than whale sounds, right?" Steve said with a devilish grin.

He unintentionally pressed a little too hard over her stitches. Alice let out a startled squeak.

"Steve," she gasped, "that hurts."

Steve immediately pulled his hands away, smile dropping.

"Shit, I'm so sorry," he said, eyes wide.

"It's fine," Alice said, waving away his concern.

"No, it's not," he said, voice cracking. "I hurt you. I—I hurt you."

"Steve, you were just playing around," Alice said softly. "I'm okay. Really."

But Steve felt horrendously guilty.

"Maybe we should sleep," he said.

He started to pull the blankets back over himself and roll on his side to face away from her. Before he could, Alice snaked her arms around him, pulling him close once more.

He shook in her hold, remembering the reason Alice's sides hurt. Remembering the worst day of his life, when he thought he lost her forever. He still saw her like that—unmoving, bloody—when he closed his eyes sometimes.

Attempting to ease his tension, Alice pressed a series of gentle kisses down his neck and mumbled, "Tell me a story?"

💜💜💜

Their First Dance — Hawkins High Prom, May 1985

Alice Henderson didn't care about prom.

She was a bit preoccupied with nightmarish omens about rabbits and death. But she figured she should go anyway, in case she didn't get another chance.

However, the one thing she couldn't nail down was a date. No boys had asked her yet, and prom was just days away.

She decided to take initiative and ask someone herself. There was one boy in particular that she really wanted to ask...

But she couldn't. As much as Alice would love to go to the prom with Steve, she was a wreck. A total mess. Steve didn't want her. Even if he did, she didn't want to initiate a relationship with him mere months before the rabbits told her she was going to die. What kind of cruel person would she be, dragging him in and then breaking his heart? He deserved better than that.

So Alice brought a Sharpie and last year's yearbook to lunch the Monday before the big day, hoping to find a guy for one night of fun.

"Who can I ask to the prom who won't make fun of me or try and get in my pants before we've even had punch?" Alice said, slamming the open yearbook down at her friends' lunch table.

"Oh my God!" Quincy said, snatching the book. "This looks like a hit list!"

Black Xs were scrawled over the faces of boys Alice didn't want to ask. It looked a bit macabre.

"It's not a hit list!" Alice said. "It's me narrowing down the search."

"Hey!" Samuel said, looking over Quincy's shoulder. "You scratched me out!"

"And what about it?" Alice snapped.

As Quincy flipped through the pages, she noticed Steve peeking at the pages too, his brow furrowed. Alice's heart did something funny in her chest. She ignored it.

"What about Tyler Wilkes?" Maria asked, trying to be helpful. She pointed to the boy's kind face.

"Don't go with Tyler," Robin said, snatching the pen away and Xing him out. "According to Beth from my soccer team, he doesn't know how to—"

Robin described something vulgar that made Alice blush a furious shade of scarlet. She involuntarily glanced at Steve. Her evil mind whispered sweet nothings about how Steve probably did know how to...et cetera.

Shut up, mind, Alice thought. Don't be a perv.

"Some of us are trying to eat," Steve deadpanned, gesturing to his lunch (and interrupting Alice's inappropriate daydreams).

"So Tyler's a no," Maria said. "Let's think of someone else for Alice to take to prom."

"What are your parameters?" Quincy asked.

"I just want someone I'll have fun with," Alice said. "He doesn't have to be my soulmate. Just a guy that I can stand for three hours. Bonus points if he's hot."

"And double bonus points if he knows how to—"

Alice threw a french fry at Robin to get her to shut up.

"What about Rich Liddell?" Quincy said. "He's a senior on the lacrosse team."

"He's cute!" Maria said.

"He's a neanderthal," Steve blurted out.

"I'm surprised you know that word, dingus," Robin teased, one eyebrow raised.

"You can do so much better than Rich," Steve said, ignoring Robin's dig.

"Tommy Lancaster's in a rock band," Robin continued. "You both like music, so there's some common ground to break the ice."

"I wouldn't call the Pink Piggies a band," Steve scoffed. "More like four people who play loud instruments badly at the same time."

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

Alice sighed and packed her yearbook away.

"Well, I guess I'm going to prom solo."

"Not solo!" Maria corrected. "I don't think any of us have dates. We can go as a group!"

"Really?" Alice said. "None of you asked anybody?"

"I did," Samuel bragged. "Patty from drama club."

"Patty Wilson?" Quincy said with a laugh. "Didn't she get in trouble for huffing glue during last year's production of Twelfth Night?"

"Whatever! At least I have a date."

"All in favor of going as a group minus Samuel, say 'Ay,'" Maria said.

Everyone agreed on the plan and went their separate ways...except Robin, who cornered Steve by the trash cans before he could escape.

"What's your deal, Harrington?" she asked suspiciously.

"Huh?"

"Why were you being so negative on the guys we suggested?" Robin said.

"Because those guys are duds!" Steve said. "Alice deserves a really special guy as a prom date. I've got to get to class now, so..."

He side-stepped Robin and rushed off, hoping she couldn't tell just how on edge he was.

Steve couldn't admit it, but he really, really wanted to take Alice to prom. He'd dreamed about asking her out for months now. But she was so special and powerful. Steve was just...Steve.

💜💜💜

"Stevie," Alice said softly. "Did you really feel that way?"

"Yeah. I did."

"I would've said yes, if you'd asked me then," Alice said. She kissed his cheek. "What happened next?"

"Al, you were there!"

"I know." She placed a hand on his chest, feeling his heart thump thump thump. "But I like hearing you tell it."

💜💜💜

Prom night arrived. The school gym had been transformed with bright gold and silver balloons, shimmery streamers, and twinkly lights on every surface. The theme this year was "Old Hollywood Glamor," and the Photo Booth included a humongous gold Oscar statue to pose with.

Alice walked in, scanning the room for her friends. She found them standing by the music booth, where an enthusiastic DJ bounced to the beat of his own songs.

"Hey!" Maria said, when she saw her approach. "Whoa, you look great!"

Alice did a small spin, the skirt of her prom dress swishing around her.

"Thank you!" she said. "You guys do too!"

And they did. Quincy, Robin, Maria, and Steve were all dressed to the nines. Alice tried not to stare too obviously at Steve, but goddamn, he looked good in a suit.

Steve, meanwhile, was also trying hard not to ogle Alice. She looked stunning, in a pretty blue dress that matched her eyes. Her hair was clipped back with sparkly bobby pins.

"What are we waiting for?" Quincy said. "Let's get dancing, people!"

He, Maria, and Alice raced off to the dance floor. Steve, however, was frozen, mesmerized by Alice. If he didn't have a shred of self control, he might've professed his love for her in front of everyone.

"Did you stop breathing, dingus?" Robin murmured, giving Steve a knowing look. He glared at her.

"Can you not call me 'dingus' today? It's my senior prom."

"Mm, let me check—nope."

Steve rolled his eyes but followed Robin to their group.

The energy in the room changed when the DJ put on a slow song. All the singles awkwardly shuffled to the outskirts of the gym.

"Now we can finally take a breather," Maria said. "I've never danced this much before. I think I pulled a muscle!"

Suddenly, Maria's crush—a sophomore named Pete Castellano—walked up.

"Hey, Maria," he squeaked. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Uh, hey. Do you want to dance?"

Maria's eyes widened. She looked to her friends, who smiled, gave thumbs ups, and gestured to the dance floor.

"Uh, sure," Maria said with a bright smile. "I'd love to, Pete."

The two of them swayed to the beat of the song. After that one ended, the DJ put on another ballad.

"Well," Quincy said, "I'm bored. Robin! Want to slow dance?"

"Fine," Robin said. "But as friends and friends only."

Quincy did a goofy little bow and offered his hand to Robin. She scoffed but took it, allowing him to lead her away.

And then, there were two. Without their friends as buffers, Steve and Alice both felt very overwhelmed by the feelings swirling around in their minds and bodies. They were both skirting around sensations of attraction, thinking their crushes were unrequited without even considering that maybe, just maybe, the other person felt the same.

Why are you being so stiff, Steve? Steve thought, sparing a glance at Alice. Say something, you idiot!

Alice chewed her fingernail, thinking, Alice, stop being stupid. You can talk to Steve while he's in a suit without throwing yourself at him.

She opened her mouth to say something—a quip about the weather or Carol Wendelson's choice in a hideous prom dress—but Steve interrupted with: "I'm going to get punch."

"Oh," Alice said. "Uh, cool. I'll be here, I guess."

Steve gave her a small smile and nod before booking it to the snack table.

"God, I hope this is spiked," he mumbled, ladling himself a rather full cup.

"Uh, Steve, what are you doing?"

His eyebrows raised when he noticed Nancy and Jonathan to his left.

"What does it look like?" Steve said. "I'm getting punch!"

"Aren't you going to ask Alice to dance?" Nancy prompted, nodding in the direction of the girl in question.

Steve followed Nancy's eyeline, heart pounding at the sight of his best friend. She looked miserable standing all alone. Steve felt shitty, but shook his head.

"She doesn't want to dance with me," he said, turning back to the snack table. "Hey, do you think there's cinnamon on these cookies?"

"Who gives a damn about the cookies?!" Jonathan said. "You're seriously not going to dance with Al?"

Steve wanted to retort that his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend shouldn't have any say in his love life, but he bit his tongue.

"Wouldn't it be weird if I did?" Steve said, addressing Nancy instead. "We used to date and she's one of your best friends."

"Steve," Nancy said, putting her hands on his shoulders. "Listen to me carefully. You are my friend. Alice is my friend. Yes, you are my ex-boyfriend, but I am telling you in no uncertain terms it is okay for you to ask Alice to dance. In fact, I am wholly encouraging it. Okay?"

Steve sighed.

"She doesn't want to dance with me," he repeated.

"You didn't even ask her," Jonathan said, crossing his arms.

"I don't have to!" Steve said. "Look at her. And look at me."

"All I see are two lovely people," Nancy said, "who both deserve to be happy. Go ask her before someone else does."

Steve's insecurity consumed him like a tidal wave. He hesitated, looking between Alice and the clock. It was already getting late. Maybe he should just slip out of the dance and head home...

"Dude," Jonathan said, sensing Steve's unease. "You've fought monsters and won. Asking a girl to dance is, like, a thousand times easier. You got this."

"Yeah," Steve mumbled. "I got this."

He squared his shoulders and strided across the gym.

"Hey, Alice," he said quietly. "Uh, do you—and it's okay if you don't—but do you maybe want to dance with me?"

Alice's heart flipped like a gymnast.

"Yes!" she blurted out, too sudden and too loud. "Yeah, that sounds great. But, I've never actually slow danced before." Her cheeks turned rosy pink at the admission.

"That's okay!" Steve said. "It's super easy. Here, I'll show you."

He held out a hand, and Alice took it, hoping her own palm wasn't a clammy mess.

Steve led her to the dance floor and said, "So, you put your hands on my shoulders and I'll put mine here."

He held her waist. Alice suppressed a squeak of surprise at how close they were standing—closer than ever before—and at how her waist burned from where he touched it. Not a using-her-powers burn, but a different kind. A welcome kind.

"And then," Steve continued, voice low. "We just step side to side."

"It's that simple?" Alice said, as the two of them began to slow dance. She watched their feet, careful not to step on Steve's shiny dress shoes.

"Yep. That simple."

Alice looked up from their feet and let out a quiet gasp. Her nose was mere centimeters from Steve's. If she wanted, she could tilt her head and kiss him right now.

Steve, funnily enough, had the exact same thought process. Alice's lips shimmered with a shiny gloss, and he wanted nothing more than to taste it. He felt warm and safe and wanted to hold Alice this close forever. Before he could lean in, Alice interrupted.

"Steve," Alice whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Can we hang out a lot this summer? Before the Fourth of July?"

"Of course. What's after the Fourth?"

Alice looked away.

"Nothing in particular. It's just...well, you're graduating and we won't see each other at school next year, and you probably want to leave this stupid town and do some amazing things. But I'll miss you."

"I'm not going anywhere," Steve said softly. "You know I didn't get into college."

"You could still move!" she said. "And you should. You deserve better than Hawkins."

You deserve better than me, Alice thought.

Steve shook his head firmly.

"I'm not going anywhere," he repeated. His soft brown eyes made Alice melt into a metaphorical puddle on the gymnasium floor.

"Forever Young" by Alphaville echoed all around them as they continued to sway. It felt like a music video, like a scene in a John Hughes move.

Alice rested her head on Steve's shoulder while they danced. She felt bubbles in her stomach, zipping all around her body and making her whole being pop with the sexual electricity Steve had taught Dustin about. She wondered if she kissed Steve, would he kiss her back? Would he take her to Lover's Lake, ask her to be his girl? Or would he laugh in her face at the mere thought of Steve—King Steve—dating Coma Girl, Fever Freak, Alice Henderson?

When the song ended, the DJ changed it to something fast paced. Alice started to pull away from Steve, but he clasped her hand.

"Wait, Al," he said. "Uh, can I ask you a question?"

Butterflies in his stomach made him nauseous, until Alice finally nodded.

"Of course. What is it?"

He opened his mouth to ask a very important question. Before the words left his month, a drunk Samuel stumbled over and bumped into Alice accidentally, spilling hot pink punch down the front of her blue dress.

"Agh!" she cried out, the ice cubes sending shivers down her spine. "Samuel!"

"Dude!" Steve said, eyes narrowed. "Watch it!"

"S-sorry," Samuel slurred. "Just had a lil too much to d-drink."

His date, Patty, made some obnoxious announcement about how Alice "just got punched," drawing the crowd's attention to Alice and her now-ruined dress.

Snickers spread through the gym, the loudest ones coming from the direction of Tommy H., Carol, and Billy Hargrove. Alice's face scrunched up and she bolted from the gym, stifling a sob.

"Al!" Maria called. She and Robin glared at Samuel and followed her out.

Steve headed that direction but before he could follow, Billy and Tommy H. blocked him.

"Harrington!" Billy barked. "Leaving so soon?"

"Out of my way, man."

"Don't you want to hear who won prom king?"

"I really don't give a shit."

"I do!" Tommy cackled. "I want to see the look on your face when you realize no one in this school gives a shit about you anymore."

Steve, unable to stomach another moment talking to those weasels, shoved past them and ignored their jeers.

He tried to follow Alice, Maria, and Robin into the girl's bathroom, but Mrs. Click stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going, Mr. Harrington?!" she snapped.

"My friend is in there," Steve said. "She's upset, I just want to—"

"No boys allowed in the girl's bathroom!" Mrs. Click said.

Steve sighed but listened, instead choosing to sit on a bench in the hall and wait.

Meanwhile, Alice said every curse word she knew as she frantically rubbed at the punch stains with cheap paper towels.

"It's not coming out!" she wailed, before letting out another string of expletives.

"It's okay, Alice!" Robin said. "You know, I actually think it looks cooler this way!"

"You kind of look like Princess Aurora!" Maria added. "You like Disney movies, right? This is your pink-blue-pink-blue moment."

"I don't want to be some dumb princess!" Alice crumpled up the towels. "Steve was about to ask me something important before stupid Samuel ruined everything."

"Really?" Robin said, eyebrows raised. "What, uh, what do you think he was going to ask?"

Alice sighed and rubbed her eyes.

"I don't know," she said. "I think maybe he—never mind."

"What is it?" Maria asked.

"I think he was about to ask me out," Alice said quietly.

Maria squealed and said, "Oh my God! Do you like Steve?!"

Alice nodded sheepishly and forced a laugh. "But thinking he likes me back is probably stupid."

"No, it's not!" Robin said, wondering if she should spill what she'd discovered about Steve's crush on Alice. She decided not to snitch and instead added, "You're a catch. Dingus would be a fool not to see that."

Alice thanked them for their support and they exited the bathroom. In the hall, Steve handed Alice his jacket to wear over her dress to cover the punch stains (and the smell of cheap bourbon). Alice wanted to ask him what he had been meaning to say before "the incident," but when she noticed a small rabbit swimming in the punch bowl, she panicked and kept her mouth shut.

This is all I need, she thought, standing next to Steve while Billy Hargrove and Heather Holloway were crowned prom king and queen. The omens of death and misfortune rattled around in her head. To be his friend. It's better this way.

"Well, this school just elected a racist prom king," Quincy said with a sigh. "Want to get out of here?"

The group left prom early, heading to the Harrington house for an impromptu afterparty.

💜💜💜

"I still kick myself for not asking you out that night," Steve said.

"You just needed some liquid courage," Alice said. "Unfortunately, that was in the form of Russian drugs."

Steve chuckled, and it turned to a yawn.

"Sorry, Al," he said. "I'm fading fast."

"No, it's fine. I'm sorry for keeping you up."

"Don't even apologize," Steve said. He kissed her temple. "I'd stay up all night talking if I didn't have a shift with the Red Cross tomorrow. It's blood donation day, so I'll swipe you a few juice boxes."

"I appreciate it," Alice said. She pulled the blankets off and stood. "You go ahead and sleep. I'm going to make some tea. Want anything?"

"Just another kiss."

Alice pretended to gag.

"Oh my God. That was so cheesy."

Nevertheless, she gave him a quick smooch before heading to the kitchen.

The clock above the oven blinked 2:39 a.m. Alice, as quietly as possible, steeped her tea and reminisced.

She smiled remembering her and Steve's first date at Ben's Beans, the day after the Battle of Starcourt. The date didn't start out well. It actually started with a fight.

💜💜💜

Their First Date — Ben's Beans, July 1985

"Just let me do it."

"No, you don't have to do that."

"It'll take me two seconds—"

"Alice! I said I don't want you to!"

Steve's face was bruised and his lip was split from the blows to the head he'd received the day prior. As he drove the two of them to the coffee shop downtown, Alice offered to heal up the rest of his wounds. Now that she'd taken two doses of Dr. Owens' miracle cure, she felt like she could without too much trouble.

Steve staunchly refused. And Alice didn't understand why.

"Just drop it, okay?" Steve added with an exasperated sigh.

"No! I don't—I can't—Steve, you're hurting."

"I can't even feel it."

"Don't lie!" she snapped. "I have this ability to take your pain away. Why won't you let me?"

Steve huffed and parked by the coffee shop. He threw his BMW into park and smacked his hand on the steering wheel.

"Because we're on a date!" he said, raising his voice slightly to a yell. "And you're not a tool, you're a person, so you shouldn't bend over backwards always trying to fix everyone!"

Alice started to retort that she didn't do that, and then realized she did do that, and shut her mouth.

A heavy silence hung in the air, thicker than molasses.

"Sorry," Alice said quietly. "I didn't mean to push. I just—I was just trying to help."

"It's okay," Steve said, voice tight. He rubbed his eyes. "Maybe this was a mistake."

White-hot panic and shame rushed through Alice.

"Oh," she said. She cleared her throat and picked at her fingernails. "Um, that's okay. I mean, I like you a lot, but if you want to go back to just being friends—"

Steve whipped his head to look at her, eyes wide with panic.

"No, no!" he said quickly. "God no. Asking you out was not a mistake! But maybe the timing was." He let out a rattling sigh. "I mean, the last few days have been hell. Maybe we should've waited a few days before doing this. Given ourselves time to recover."

Hell was an understatement. Alice would be haunted by their horrible Starcourt experience for her whole life.

Alice swallowed hard, trying to force out the voice in the back of her head saying that Steve didn't want her, that he already regretted this.

"Maybe you're right," she said, "but we're already here. Let's just get coffee and hang out. No pressure. No talk of powers or Starcourt. Sound good?"

Steve agreed. He quickly slipped on a pair of Ray-Bans and a Hawkins High ball cap to cover his black eye and bruises, hoping to avoid too much attention, and they entered the coffee shop.

Ben's Beans was a pretty small place. It was mostly inhabited by middle-aged women and their book clubs or band and drama kids from Hawkins High trying to act chic and pretend they live in big cities.

Every circular wooden table in the place had an assorted collection of mismatched chairs. Steve headed to the counter to order their drinks. Alice chose a small table for them underneath a beautiful painting of a vase of lavender.

She nibbled her fingernails, trying to stave off her anxiety.

Relax, she thought. You hang out with Steve all the time. This is no different...except the fact that he might take you to Skull Rock after.

Oh, God. The thought of going to Skull Rock made Alice's nerves skyrocket. The last time she'd been remotely intimate with anyone was at Quincy's 18th birthday party in March. She made out with a French-Canadian foreign exchange student named Jean-Luc during a game of seven minutes in heaven. His kisses were more slobber than anything else, and he fumbled unhooking her bra so much that he started to weep.

"Ce putain de truc!" Jean-Luc had cried out at the time. "Les soutiens-gorge sont plus faciles au Québec!"

Alice didn't know what that meant and didn't want to know. She feigned a headache, pulled her shirt back on, and slipped out of the small closet after only three-and-a-half minutes.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Alice jumped, surprised to see Steve already standing there with their drinks.

"Uh, nothing interesting," Alice said with an awkward smile, not keen on bringing up kissing another guy on her first date with Steve.

The two of them sat across from each other, sipping their drinks and sharing nervous smiles. After five minutes of small talk about the goddamn weather, Alice sighed.

"Are we bad at this?" she said. "Are the pair of us just total nimrods?"

"Huh?"

"We talk all the time and never run out of things to say," Alice said. "Now, suddenly, we put a romantic label on things and we either fight or can't hold a decent conversation. What the fuck is wrong with us?"

"So much," Steve said, without missing a beat. They both laughed.

"Understatement of the century," Alice said. "Seriously though, we need to loosen up."

"Oh, yeah?" Steve's eyes sparkled with something mischievous. "What did you have in mind?"

"We have to turn off our brains and not think so much," Alice said. "Like little kids do."

That sparked an idea in Steve: "Oh, I know just the place for that."

Alice and Steve took their coffees to go and drove to the Hawkins Elementary playground, empty due to summer vacation. They used the slide, the swings, the monkey bars. For a blissful two hours, they were like kids once more, giggling and playing and forgetting all the horrible shit they'd seen the past two years.

They laid at the top of the jungle gym as the sun set, watching the sky fade from brilliant blue to a burnt orange.

"This was really fun," Steve said, his hand brushing Alice's. Feeling brave, he intertwined their fingers together, thrilled when Alice didn't pull her hand away. "I'm sorry for yelling in the car before. You were just trying to help."

"It's okay. You're right. I do try to fix everyone. But I just don't want you in pain. I hate seeing you like that."

"I hate seeing you in pain, too," Steve said quietly. "Yesterday, when that bastard shot at you, I just—Jesus, I lost my mind for a minute. I care about you so much. I don't—I can't—lose you."

"You won't," Alice promised. "The Mind Flayer is dead. So it's all over now."

"Yeah," Steve said with a sigh of relief. "It's over."

"So, we can focus on other, more important things. Like, when are you going to take me out again, hot stuff?"

💜💜💜

Alice tiptoed to her bedroom and crawled back into bed beside Steve's sleeping form. She even started to drift off herself despite the itchy scars—but then, Steve started talking in his sleep.

"No," he mumbled. "No!"

He twitched like he'd been hit by something.

"Steve?" Alice whispered. She sat up and gently tried to shake him awake.

"Please," Steve mumbled, still half-asleep. "Don't touch her!"

He thrashed once more. Alice shook him harder.

"Steve! Wake up!"

Steve gasped awake and shot to a sitting position, clutching his chest.

"You're okay, you're okay!" Alice said. "Bad dream, huh?"

Steve nodded, too startled to speak. He flopped back down on his pillow and rubbed his forehead.

"You're all good now," Alice said. She brushed hair out of his eyes. "I've got you, Stevie. Do you want to talk about what you saw?"

He shook his head. He looked up at her from where he was lying and hoarsely whispered, "Tell me a story instead?"

💜💜💜

Their First Kiss — Eagleton Summer Festival, Late July 1985

Two weeks after the Battle of Starcourt, Lucas and Dustin begged Steve and Alice to take them and Max to the summer festival the next town over. Max had been reeling after Billy's death, and the boys wanted to cheer her up.

The fair was fun at first. Lots of good food and carnival games. Max even cracked a smile when Lucas won her a stuffed animal at the ring toss.

However, when the fireworks started, Max, Lucas, Steve, and Alice flinched with each loud boom! Dustin had been on a hillside with Cerebro during the Battle, so he didn't understand why no one else enjoyed the show.

"What's wrong?" Dustin asked Alice. "You normally love fireworks. You always point to the most obnoxiously loud one and say, 'Dusty, that's you!'"

Another one shot off into the air, exploding into bright red sparks and causing Max to gasp and reach for Lucas' hand.

"Hey!" Alice said, clapping her hands together. "Let's hit the funhouse while everyone's distracted. I hear it's really cool, and we won't have to wait in any lines!"

"That's perfect," Steve said, smiling at her. "C'mon."

It took a little convincing to get Dustin to come along, but he eventually did, running ahead with Lucas and Max and leaving the new couple alone.

The funhouse maze was full of confusing rooms. One was a bridge cutting through a spinning cylinder, dizzying Steve and Alice as they stumbled through it. Another room was seemingly normal, until blasts of air ricocheted out of the floor and made Alice's dress flutter upward.

"What perv designed this place?" she huffed, holding her skirt in place. "Walk in front of me so I don't flash anybody."

Steve did so, like any good boyfriend would.

The most confounding room was the House of Mirrors. Hundreds upon thousands of refracted reflections and seemingly endless pathways—though only one was correct.

"Ouch!" Steve mumbled, wincing after he hit his knee against one of the mirrors. He noticed Alice behind him and turned—only for her to actually be standing a few feet to the right and in front of him.

"Hurry up, slowpoke!" she teased, darting ahead. Somehow, she didn't struggle to navigate the mirrored maze, despite the fact that it was meant to be challenging.

"Whoa, whoa!" Steve said, following. "Wait for me, babe!"

Babe. The endearing nickname rolled off his tongue easily, as if he'd been saying it for years. Alice felt increasingly warm all of a sudden.

Distracted by this new development, she walked into a mirror herself and cursed.

She turned around, expecting to see Steve in one of the reflections.

He was nowhere to be found.

"Steve?" Alice called, brow furrowed. "Are you behind me, or in front?"

"Al?" Steve's voice sounded so much further away than it had. "Where did you go?"

Alice's heartbeat quickened. She didn't need to be scared—there was no danger. It was just a silly carnival attraction. But she was alone and confused and the lights were super bright, and the room was hot, and she spun in a circle trying to remember which way she came from but it all looked identical.

Alice began breathing heavily, panic settling into her bones.

No, no! Alice thought. How pathetic would I be to have a panic attack because of some dumbass mirror maze?!

"Oh, there you are!"

Relief seeped through Alice. She smiled at Steve walking toward her.

He smiled back, but then something in his face shifted. He looked very serious all of a sudden, and a bit starstruck, and the last of her panic ebbing away got replaced with sheer glee when he leaned in to kiss her for the first time—

—and whacked his forehead on a mirror two feet to the right of Alice, the trick of the mirrors confusing him.

She clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. She didn't want to hurt his feelings.

Instead, she tapped him on the shoulder gently. He turned, a sheepish look on his face.

"Looking for me?" she teased.

Before he could respond (and defend himself for that total dingus move), Alice grabbed the collar of his polo and pulled him in for their first kiss.

The fireworks blasting off outside were nothing compared to the ones in Alice and Steve as they kissed with fervor, millions of other Alices and Steves doing the same in the glass surrounding them.

💜💜💜

"That was a good day," Steve murmured, his head leaning on Alice's shoulder as they laid next to each other in bed.

"It was. We should go to the festival again this year."

"Do you think they'll have one? After everything?"

"I hope so," Alice said. "I need funnel cake at least once a year or I'll fade away, like how Tinkerbell needs everyone to believe in her or she'll cease to exist, or whatever."

Steve snorted. Suddenly, he gave Alice a look. A specific kind of look. The I-really-want-to-make-out-with-you-right-now look that Alice loved.

"I can't sleep," he said casually. "You can't sleep."

"Those are correct statements."

"We could keep talking, or we could do a different kind of talking. Talking...with our bodies."

As soon as the words left Steve's mouth and he saw the way Alice grimaced, he sighed.

"That was really lame, wasn't it?"

"It was so lame," Alice said. "Are you sure you were ever cool?"

"Oh, shut up."

"I'm serious. How did you gaslight your way to popularity? You're the biggest dork I know."

"Well," Steve said. He wrapped an arm around Alice's waist and rested a hand on the small of her back. It sent a shiver down her spine. "This dork is insanely attracted to you and really, really wants to play a round of canasta. Or two. Or three."

"Sure," Alice said with a cheeky smile, pretending not to know what he was talking about. "I'll go get the deck of cards."

"Yeah, not that kind of canasta."

He surged forward and kissed her slowly, deeply. Alice melted into the kiss, but before things could get too steamy, she pulled away and whispered, "Tell me a story."

"Can it be a sexy story?"

"Yes, please."

💜💜💜

Their First Time — Late September 1985

Alice Henderson was no stranger to sex.

She'd had it a grand total of four (and a half) times, all with the same person: Peter Prentiss, grade-A douchebag.

Now, a bit less than two years later, she had a serious boyfriend whom she really, really liked. However, they hadn't taken that next big step. Sure, she and Steve had spent hours upon hours making out, but it was always very PG-13, over-the-clothes kind of stuff.

Anytime Steve started toward something a little more R-rated, Alice froze up and stopped him. He was always sweet and understanding, promising that he was okay with waiting. But Alice started to worry that he was just saying that and secretly resented her for not putting out.

The other part of her twisted, anxious brain worried that as soon as they slept together, he'd drop her and go for someone new.

As their three month anniversary approached, an unsettling conversation with her former bully Carol Wendelson made Alice's anxiety spike even higher.

Samuel and Alice got jobs at Bingsley's Beats—Samuel's dad's music store—back in August. Maria was visiting them at work when Alice mentioned wanting to get Steve a small anniversary gift.

When she mentioned making something homemade, Samuel shot that down instantly.

"That's cheap," he said. "All special gifts are expensive."

"Not true!" Maria said. "Something homemade can be really heartfelt."

"Trust me," Samuel said. "Steve is a guy with a refined taste. You need to buy him a nice watch. Don't do something lame, like knit him a shitty scarf."

He wandered away to help a customer, leaving the girls alone to discuss.

"Ignore him," Maria said with a kind smile. "Steve's going to love whatever you make him."

Alice smiled back, but it faded when Carol sauntered up to the counter with a Madonna tape in hand. Home on fall break from whatever college accepts she-devils, she looked positively gleeful at overhearing this conversation.

"So the rumors are true," Carol teased. She smacked her gum obnoxiously "Steve's standards have taken a nosedive if you are his girlfriend."

"Cash or card?" Alice drawled, ringing up the tape and not giving Carol the satisfaction of getting under her skin.

"Cash. And Bingsley is right. Boyfriends don't want homemade crap."

Maria huffed and shifted further from Carol, as if being in her presence was physically nauseating.

"I still disagree," Maria said. "But if you do want to buy him something, what about a nice journal? You could even get it personalized."

Carol burst out laughing.

"A journal?" she said. "Hot guys don't journal! They let their thoughts fade away. It's part of what makes them so hot!"

"Receipt's in the bag," Alice said, practically tossing the bright pink Bingsley's Beats paper bag at Carol. The latter caught it but stayed, either not picking up on the fact that she was not welcome in this conversation (or willfully ignoring it).

"Do you want to give Steve a gift he won't forget?" Carol said, leaning over the counter with a glint in her eye.

"I don't like where this is going," Maria muttered.

Alice didn't either, but she was curious (and desperate).

"Fine!" Alice said, holding her hands up in mock surrender. "I'll bite. Carol, what do you suggest?"

Carol lowered her voice and said, "You have to get him—or do—something erotic."

Maria gagged. Alice rolled her eyes and said, "Just as I thought: horrible advice. There's nothing special about getting him, like, boxers with hearts on it or something."

"Well," Carol said, "I was thinking more along the lines of..."

She glanced around the store. The only other people in it were Samuel and the mother and daughter he was helping choose a new Walkman.

Carol beckoned Maria and Alice closer and whispered her gift idea.

Alice blushed furiously and Maria choked on air.

"Oh, don't be such prudes," Carol said.

"We are not prudes!" Alice snapped. "That's just stupid."

"It's not!" Carol said. "And it can't be a far stretch from what you and Steve are already doing."

Alice looked down at her feet. Carol gasped.

"Seriously?" Carol said. "You haven't fucked him yet?"

"Geez, Carol!" Maria hissed. "That's none of our business."

"I'm just surprised," Carol said with a shrug. "Steve usually seals the deal by week five at the latest. If you don't put out soon, he'll move on."

She flounced out of the store, her words echoing around Alice's skull even when Maria told her not to listen.

Later that night, Carol's warning stuck in Alice's mind while she and Steve watched a movie at his house.

Steve had his arm around Alice's shoulder and could tell something was bothering her in the way she kept fidgeting with her hands and biting her nails.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine."

Steve pursed his lips at her obvious lie but didn't press, turning his attention back to the movie.

Alice wondered if they should just do it now and get it over with. The Harringtons weren't home—they were away at some charity dinner event and wouldn't be back until much later that night. Now was as good a time as any.

But Alice got a sour taste in her mouth remembering that she thought the same thing about sex with Peter, and that debacle ended in heartbreak.

But Steve isn't Peter Prentiss, Alice thought. He's good!

"Okay, seriously," Steve said, snatching up the VCR remote and pausing The Outsiders. "You're not even paying attention to the movie. That actor guy you like just stepped out of the shower nearly naked and you didn't make one crude comment."

"'Shower?'" Alice blurted out. "I hardly know her!"

Steve raised an eyebrow at her weak attempt at a racy joke. Not her best work.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong," Steve said, "or are we going to play the world's most uncomfortable guessing game?"

Alice glanced to the side. She couldn't look him in the eye when she mumbled, "I'm sorry for making you wait."

"Wait for what?" Steve asked. "Ordering pizza? I don't mind getting it from that place in Eagleton instead because they have the toppings you like. But I am getting hungry, so maybe I should go ahead and call—"

"Not the pizza," Alice interrupted. "I'm sorry for making you wait to have sex."

Steve's eyes widened in surprise, a bit flustered at the new topic of conversation.

"Oh. It's okay, Alice. You know I don't mind waiting. No need to apologize."

"It's not that I don't want to," Alice said. "I do! I really do. I just don't feel ready. I've only slept with one other guy, and you've slept with a whole lot of girls."

"'A whole lot of girls'?" Steve echoed, frowning.

"Wait, shit!" Alice said. She began to ramble, word-vomiting all over the place. "Not 'a whole lot of girls' in a manwhore way. In an experienced way. I don't have that kind of experience and I just feel so out of my depth and I'm totally afraid of doing something stupid or wrong and making things awkward between us—but now that I say all this out loud, I realize that I am very much so making things awkward by bringing this up and oh, God, somebody kill me."

She put her head in her hands and let out a muffled scream. Then, she stood from the couch.

"I'm going to leave," she said, "because I'm an idiot."

She darted toward the front door, but Steve grabbed her hand to stop her.

"Please don't go," he said. "You aren't an idiot. And we should talk about this kind of stuff. Like I said, I'm fine to wait."

"But—"

"No buts!" Steve said. "I'm ready and you're not. So, we won't have sex until you are too. It's as simple as that."

It didn't feel that simple.

"What if you get bored of me?" Alice protested. "What if you get tired of waiting around?"

"I won't."

"How do you know?"

"Duh," Steve said, "because, if it's not obvious after three months, I have a big, devastating, embarrassing crush on you. I like doing anything with you! Watching movies, going on walks, getting coffee. It doesn't matter what it is because we're together and that's great no matter what."

Alice didn't know what to say. No one had ever said such nice things to her before. She felt a pinch behind her eyes, trying not to cry at his sweet words.

"I have a big, devastating, embarrassing crush on you, too," she said with a grin. "It's so big it can be seen from outer space, like the Great Wall of China."

"Do the NASA scientists study how much you like me?" Steve teased, preening at her words.

"Oh, yeah. There's a whole department of physicists trying to understand how one human girl could hold so much love in her heart for one human guy."

Steve kissed her then, for a while, the pizza forgotten.

Weeks passed, and Alice remembered Steve's lovely sentiments anytime she started to feel self-conscious.

One afternoon in mid-October, something shifted.

Alice and Steve were alone at his house watching a movie once more. She kept glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. Anytime Steve turned toward her to catch her in the act, she looked back at the TV.

"Why do you keep staring at me?!" Steve said with a laugh. "And don't deny it, you creep."

Alice blushed and mumbled out apologies, along with something Steve didn't hear.

"What's that?" he said, leaning closer.

"I'M READY," Alice said, way too loud and causing him to jump a little in his seat. "Shit, sorry. I didn't mean to shout it like that. I've been trying to work up the nerve to say something all evening and I just panicked."

"And when you say 'ready,' you mean ready for..."

"Sex," Alice said bluntly. "To have sex. With you. Right now. But only if you want to."

Steve swore his heart beat right out of his chest and landed somewhere on the floor. He felt his brain short-circuit. He'd wanted this for so long—the fact that it was about to happen was surreal.

"Really?" he said, trying not to sound too excited. "Are you sure you want to?"

"I want to," Alice said firmly. She smiled at him, a little shy. "I really, really, do."

Alice's experiences with Peter Prentiss felt like nothing compared to sex with Steve. Peter had only cared about making himself feel good. He wanted things over with quickly and had no patience.

With Steve, it was all different. It was love. Passion. Intimacy. All the things Alice read about in the romance novels she would check out from the library in secret. Like a cold drink on a warm day. Like the perfect song playing on the radio at just the right moment. Like that feeling when you're on a rollercoaster and it's about to drop, and you're nervous but also excited and happy and joyous and life doesn't feel so difficult at the moment. Like stars and butterflies and burning suns and a refreshing swim in Lover's Lake and the feeling of finding something you didn't even know you were looking for and the feeling of coming home.

Afterwards, Steve didn't rush Alice out of his bed. He wanted to talk to her, and they talked for hours. About everything, about nothing. It was comforting and raw and real and Alice couldn't help but kiss a million kisses on Steve's flushed face and neck because he treated her with a kind of care and love that she couldn't even show herself.

💜💜💜

"That's a good story," Alice said, tracing her finger on Steve's bicep.

"It's one of my favorites."

"I'm sure it is," Alice teased. "Perv."

"Creep!" Steve shot back. "Don't think I didn't catch you drooling when I lifted my shirt earlier."

"Guilty as charged, hot stuff. Now, are we going to canasta, or—"

Before she even finished her sentence, Steve started kissing her, and it was just as thrilling and intoxicating as the very first time.

{Posted March 19th, 2023; Republished April 6th, 2025}

A/N [from 2023] Thank you for reading :) you rock!

A/N [from 2025] Well, that's it! I've republished all the main chapters and important extra chapters of Alice the Amazing. There are a few other bonus chapters that I'm keeping unpublished, mainly because they don't really fit the story anymore.

I solemnly swear that I will never panic and unpublish this fic again, lmao. Thanks for reading, or rereading, or just being here :) Alice and I love youuuuuu <3

ALICE HENDERSON WILL RETURN

IN FALL 1987

FOR HER LAST DANCE...