HAWKINS, INDIANA — 1983.

     ALTHOUGH THE THOUGHT OF PRIYA being missing still stuck in the back of Theresa's mind, that was the last thing she was thinking about right now.

Steve Harrington was her new toy, and a cute one at that.

Even Theresa herself was unaware of how she was slowly becoming unraveled by him, letting her guard down for him.

And Steve was surprised too. He had never seen Tess laugh so much, or even smile for that matter. But she was genuinely... enjoying his company.

It was a strange sight to see.

"I need to be getting home soon," Theresa said, closing her textbook. "But you made improvements today. See how well you can do when you actually try instead of playing dumb?"

Steve began to smile charmingly. "See, that's the thing– I'm actually dumb, I'm not playing dumb."

Tess' smile dropped as she turned her head to him sharply, arching an eyebrow.

"Don't say that about yourself. Only I'm allowed to call you dumb."

He held her a gaze for a moment before they both started laughing. Tess stood up and gathered her books, then holding out a hand to Steve.

"Until next time, Mr. Harrington."

Steve stood up as well, taking her hand and shaking it in a humorous way.

"It's been a pleasure, Miss Sinclair. You know– you've opened up a lot since I first started talking to you."

Theresa withdrew her hand, keeping her eyes on his. She then glanced away, shrugging.

"Don't get used to it."

Steve frowned for a moment, wondering what that meant, then dismissed it and walked to the door to open it.

Tess followed, stopping in front of him.

"So when's our date?"

Steve stumbled on his words, scratching the back of his neck.

"I– uh... Friday at six. I'll come pick you up. Deal?"

Tess tilted her head, a hint of a smile forming.

"...Deal. Bowling and ice cream, right?"

Steve nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets as he watched her begin to leave.

"Bowling and ice cream."

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ANOTHER DAY PASSED, AND THERESA had yet to hear anything about Priya.

But the entirety of Hawkins High now knew she was missing, thanks to Sidney's dramatic meltdown in the hallway yesterday. She was worse than Tess.

Tess had a stomachache. She normally got them when something made her anxious, almost like a lingering hangover.

She could not eat. Theresa sat at the lunch table beside Sid, who animatedly picked at her food with her fork.

Tess could not take it any longer. She stood up, taking up her tray and walking off to sit somewhere else.

She occupied the seat next to Steve, who sat across from Tommy and Carol; as expected.

Steve looked up at her with surprise, as did the other two.

"Tess?" he questioned. "Are you o–"

"I'm fine," she cut him off, folding her arms with a huff. "I was just sick of Sidney being a whiny bitch."

Carol looked at Theresa for a moment. Then, she said, "So your friend... is she actually missing?"

Theresa could not even find it in her to tolerate Carol's remarks today, turning her head slowly and with a strong glare.

"Well she's not on a fucking vacation," Theresa replied at once, rolling her eyes and looking away.

Steve raised his eyebrows, a deep expression of concern on his face. He wondered if he should interrupt before things escalated, but that might make things worse between him and Tess.

Carol scoffed. "Is it so hard to answer the question normally? Jesus, she probably ran off because she was sick of you."

Theresa shot out of her chair. Carol flinched, raising her arms and leaning as far back in her chair as she could go.

Tess was not one for violence. No, she was too classy to get into a physical altercation. She stared at Carol hard, her chest rising and falling with anger.

She did not say a word. Instead, Theresa turned and stalked off, pushing the door open to get out of the cafeteria.

Steve watched her, then turned back to Carol and Tommy.

"What the hell was that?" he spat, shaking his head and following suit of Tess.

He caught the tail end of her as he entered the hallway, disappearing into the girl's bathroom. Steve did not even think twice before following, pushing open the door and entering inside.

Theresa stood over the sink, hands on either side. He only got a glimpse before she turned away, but Steve knew he could see watery eyes.

She put her back to him and dabbled at her eyes with a tissue, folding her arms.

"You aren't supposed to be in here."

"No shit," he quickly said in response. "Tess, can you please turn around?"

She simply replied, "No."

Steve halfway rolled his eyes, placing a hand to his head.

"Okay, so is this actual crying or this fake crying like you did when the Byers kid went missing?"

That got her to turn around. Her eyes were ringed with red, her nose pink as well. The tears were real.

"Is your goal here to piss me off more?" she snapped, cocking her head to the side.

Very slowly, Steve began to smile. "I mean, I can try if you want me to."

Tess stared at him in disbelief.

"Get out."

"Look, I'm just kidding, I'm sorry. I was trying to make you laugh," he hurriedly spoke, taking a few steps closer to her. "I'm sorry."

She stared up at him, meeting his eyes. He looked into hers, trying to help her calm down but unsure of if it was working.

"That was a shitty joke," she muttered, sniffling at once and glancing down.

Steve nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I just... wanna make sure you're okay."

Theresa licked her lips, bringing her head up. She did not exactly meet Steve's eyes as she spoke, hesitating.

"It's just that... Priya was– is– the only friend I've ever had who I didn't completely hate."

Steve raised his head slowly in understanding.

"I see. You know... you can have more than one of those friends, right? I mean– I'm your friend aren't I?"

Theresa studied Steve. Why did he have to be such a good guy?

"Just– stop asking me if I'm okay all the time," she changed the subject, pushing past him toward the door. "It's annoying."

Steve watched her leave, sighing with a small frown.

"What are you doing in here?"

Turning around, Steve saw Nancy Wheeler entering the bathroom with a concerned look on her face.

She had always been a cute girl to Steve, but definitely a bit nerdy. She was definitely no Theresa.

"I-I was talking to someone. Apologies."

Nancy glanced toward the door, then back to Steve. "Theresa? Is that who you were talking to?"

He nodded nonchalantly, shrugging. "Yeah, why?"

Nancy quickly shook her head. "N-No reason. I just... well– be careful with her. You never know what she might do or say."

Steve's frown deepened, confused. Why was Nancy telling him this?

"Did she do something to you?"

Once more Nancy shook her head. That was not the truth, however. Theresa Sinclair hated her guts, for some unknown reason.

"Oh, no. I've just– heard a lot of things. About her."

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear," Steve was quick to reply, giving Nancy a curt and irritable smile before walking out of the bathroom.

Theresa was starting to drive him crazy, and he could not even figure out if it was in a good way or a bad way. She was beautiful, yet somehow branded as the most vicious inhabitant of Hawkins.

He had seen the good side of her, the side that genuinely laughed at his stupid jokes while they were supposed to be studying and the side that confessed just a sliver of truth to him.

And that was when Steve got an idea.

He'd prove to everyone that Theresa Sinclair was not a bad person.

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FRIDAY ARRIVED, AND STEVE WAS A nervous wreck.

He had gone over the plan a million times in his head, but it still did not seem perfected enough.

And for Theresa, it had to be perfect.

She had become increasingly withdrawn in the past few days, putting it off as being stressed from school when Steve knew different. It was weird seeing Tess genuinely upset over someone, a friend at that. She really cared about Priya.

But for now, Steve wanted to get her mind off of that. It was six o'clock on the dot, and he was sitting in his car outside of the Sinclair residence.

When the front door opened, he got out of his car and walked around to the passenger side, waiting on Tess. Was it possible for her to look even prettier?

"Good evening, Miss Sinclair. I'll be your chauffeur for the evening," he joked, opening the car door.

Tess glanced up at him, a smile beginning to spread on her face.

"What a gentleman."

Steve shrugged, pretending to be nonchalant as she got in the car.

"I do try." He shut the door, walking around to his side and starting it up.

"Although I feel kinda bad, because I was going to bring flowers but I didn't know your favorite kind."

Theresa looked over at him. "You forgot the flowers? Well this whole date is ruined, then."

For a moment he feared she was being serious until he caught on that she was being sarcastic. Steve rolled his eyes as Tess laughed lightly, tapping her fingers on the door handle.

"My favorite flowers are dahlias, by the way."

"Dahlias," Steve repeated, nodding. "Hm. Noted."

There was silence for a moment, then he continued, "So what are your other favorites?"

Tess raised an eyebrow. "Favorite what?"

"Your favorite everything... color, food, animal... I need to know these things, they're important."

She started to laugh once more. "Important, huh? Okay, well... my favorite color is red. Like– deep, deep red. My favorite food... it's probably going to be anything seafood. And my favorite animal? That's a hard one– uh, maybe deer? I've always found them really cute."

Steve took all of this in, unable to hide his goofy grin.

"I can't believe your favorite animal... is a deer."

"What's wrong with that?" Tess replied defensively, folding her arms over her chest.

He laughed. "Nothing, nothing. I just– I figured your favorite animal would've been a-a leopard or something."

Theresa snorted. "A leopard? Where in God's name did you get that from?"

They both exchanged uncontrollable laughter, and it was genuinely the hardest either had laughed in a very long time.

The pair arrived at the bowling alley not too long after, Tess hopping out of the car rather excitedly. She liked to go on fun dates like these, and not just go screw in a guy's car in the middle of the woods.

"Are you a good bowler, Harrington?" she asked once they were given their shoes, sitting beside him to change into hers.

"Me? I'm a professional."

Theresa cut her eyes at him, shaking her head with a bit of a smirk. She stood up, looking down at him.

"I'd use my words lightly if I were you," she teased.

Steve brought his head up after tying the last lace, pretending to be taken aback.

He stood up, placing a hand on his chest.

"I'm sorry, is that– is that a threat?"

Theresa shook her head, ambling over to pick up a bowling ball.

"It's a warning."

While Tess was not terrible at the game, she was not all she talked herself up to be. Then again, neither was Steve.

"How many gutter balls is that?" Steve remarked as Tess walked away from the lane, sending him a sharp look.

"Well, it looks like we both suck," she placed her hands on her hips with sass in her tone.

Steve looked down at the scoresheet, placing the pencil in his mouth for a moment.

"I mean, yeah, but... I'm still in the lead."

Theresa rolled her eyes.

After deciding to call a tie– much to Steve's dismay– they left to go get ice cream.

"I'm not sharing my cone with you," Tess apprised in advance as they approached the ice cream shop. "I don't care how romantic it's supposed to be."

Steve held the door open for her, replying, "And yet, I'm not the least bit surprised."

They got their cones, chocolate for Steve and rocky road for Tess, then went and sat on the hood of Steve's car.

It was a clear night, but definitely cold since it was December. But they both agreed that it was never too cold for ice cream.

"Tell me you've had at least a little bit of fun," Steve said, looking over at Theresa.

She licked her ice cream thoughtfully, considering her words in her head for a moment.

"Alright, I'll be fully honest. And don't you dare get a big head over this. But... this is the most fun date I've ever had."

She was quiet for a second, then added, "The flowers would've made it better, but..."

Steve nudged her with his elbow while she laughed, trailing off once more.

"I'm completely serious, though." She grew pensive once more. "I've never met a guy like you, Harrington. I've never met a guy who genuinely, actually cares."

Steve observed her, her face dimly lit by Christmas lights along the street lamps. She was indescribable by words, mostly because Steve's vocabulary was not that expansive. But he knew, without a doubt, that she was beyond beautiful.

"I mean, you're so respectful it's sickening," she cut into the silence, drawing his attention.

Theresa turned her head to him. "Why are you so nice, hm? And why are you so nice to me specifically?"

Steve stammered, shaking his head. "I just think there's a lot more to you than you want most people to see. I'll tell you this: a week ago I found you a lot more intimidating than I do now. I mean– I definitely do still find you intimidating, but I at least know that that's not all there is to you."

Theresa was at a loss for words. Completely shocked. How the hell had he read her like a children's book?

"What, are you psychoanalyzing me now?" she responded, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Steve backpedaled as fast as he could.

"No, no no. I was saying that I think you are a good person. Deep, deep down."

Theresa stood up. "I'm not a good person, Steve. You're lying to yourself."

Steve stood up as well, standing facing her. He reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Look, I don't want to end the night on a bad note. Alright? I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "That's your problem, you're always sorry. Look– I'm not a good person and I know it. Why can't you just accept me for who I am instead of trying to make me something I'm not?"

Steve was befuddled.

"Wait– so you're saying that... you want me to treat you like everyone else does? Like you're a bad person?"

Theresa discarded her ice cream, raising her shoulders up and opening the car door. She got in and closed it.

Steve threw his hands up in desperation, walking around to the driver's side and getting in as well.

"Tess–"

She cut him off by leaning over and grabbing his face, kissing him.

NOTES! ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
borderline smut in the next chapter, so be prepared for that 😜

what's a song you think fits tess and steve's relationship?