Jenna spent the next couple of weeks thinking about Steve. A lot.

It started out as harmless thoughts that popped into her head out of nowhere, ones that she was able to quickly forget about in a matter of seconds. Then they started to linger into her mind longer, despite her efforts not to let them take over. But it was worse when she was asleep at night, where all she dreamt about was that night in the pool with Steve. She recalled their moment and imagined another scenario where she didn't pull away and gave into him. And when she woke up the next day, a mixture of butterflies and disappointment filled the pit of her stomach as she looked over at the empty spot next to her on the bed, aching over the fact that none of it was real.

They stopped calling each other again, and it made Jenna wonder whether or not she made a mistake that night. She was also curious if Steve was thinking the same thing. Needless to say, it left her even more conflicted about leaving for Nashville.

But on Labor Day, Jenna decided to finally call her aunt and uncle and talk to them about the possibility of moving back to Nashville, anyway. So a few days later, she dialed their number and waited for a moment, though she was surprised to hear someone else other than her aunt or uncle answer the phone.

"Waters residence," Claire greeted over the phone.

"Claire?" Jenna questioned in confusion.

"Oh, hey, Jenna! Long time, no talk."

"Yeah, it's been a while," Jenna said. "Why are you answering your parents' phone? Shouldn't you be back at college?"

"I decided to come home for the weekend," Claire explained. "And of course, my parents went out to run errands by the time I got here." She paused, exhaling before speaking up again. "Anyway, I heard about the mall fire in Hawkins. Please tell me you weren't there that night."

Jenna was reluctant to tell her cousin, but she opened her mouth to confirm it, anyway. "Yeah, I was." She was quiet for another moment, letting out a shaky breath. "I lost Janet that night. You remember me talking about her, right?"

"Yeah," Claire stated. "I'm so sorry. How you holding up?"

"I'm okay," Jenna said truthfully. "Talking to Steve about it has helped a lot."

"Has it now?"

"Don't even start, Claire."

"You're the one that brought him up."

Jenna huffed a sigh in response. "Well, I didn't call to talk about him." She leaned against the wall. "Actually, I'm glad you answered the phone, because I wanted to ask you something."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," she quickly replied, then second-guessed her response. "I mean, I thought everything was okay." Jenna hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "What do you think about me moving back to Nashville?" There was a moment of silence on the other side of the line, making Jenna nervous as to what her cousin had to say. "You still there?"

"Yeah, I'm still here," Claire assured her. "Look, what you went through was traumatic, but I don't think moving back here is gonna help."

"Why not?"

"Because you and I both know that you can only stay away from Hawkins for so long."

"Things are different now, Claire."

"You're telling me that you're willing to leave behind everyone that cares about you again after what just happened? For good this time?"

"But what if it's the right thing to do?"

"There's no way in hell that's true," Claire protested. "Look, as much as my parents would welcome you back, you already have the best support group to help you get through this right there with you in Hawkins." When Jenna didn't say anything in response, Claire kept going. "Just saying, if you're asking me about this, I think you've got your answer as to what you should do."

Jenna's face fell, even if her cousin couldn't see it. "Why does this have to be so fucking complicated?" she muttered.

"Just take some time to think about it, okay? I don't want you to make a decision that you'll regret later." She paused for another moment before speaking up again. "And I'm sure a certain boy would agree."

"What does that mean?"

"Oh, I think I hear my parents coming through the door. It was great talking to you, Jenna."

"Wait a second--"

"Gotta go, bye!"

"Claire!" Jenna shouted as the line disconnected, causing her to almost slam the phone back on the hook and let out a sigh in frustration, letting her cousin's words sink into her brain.

*******

Jenna did her best not to think about her conversation with Claire throughout the afternoon.

She found a way to distract herself by watching TV, much to her mom's dismay. By the time the sun was starting to set, her brain was just about fried from staring at the screen for so long, almost dozing off a few times, though she snapped back to reality before she could fall asleep when the TV suddenly shut off. Confused, Jenna looked over and found her mom holding the remote.

"I was watching that," she said annoyingly.

"Yeah, it sure looked like it," her mom replied in a sarcastic tone. "How about you get out of the house for a while and go to the Labor Day Celebration downtown?"

"Did you already forget what happened on the last major holiday?"

"I don't think there's any monsters or Russians to worry about this time."

Jenna scoffed. "It's kind of ridiculous when you say it out loud."

Dorothy stared at her daughter for a moment before taking a seat next to her on the couch. "This isn't just about that, is it?"

The girl eyed her mom before replying. "I talked to Claire today. I asked her what she thought about me moving back to Nashville."

"You did?" Dorothy raised her eyebrows in surprise. "What did she say?"

"That moving back was a bad idea," she answered. "Well, she didn't say it like that, but it's pretty much what she meant. She thinks I can't stay away from Hawkins for good and that I have the best support group right here." She paused for a moment, then continued on. "Even Dana thinks I shouldn't move back."

"And what do you think?"

Jenna shrugged in response. "I thought it was the right thing for me to do after everything that happened at Starcourt. But now I'm not so sure."

Dorothy's face fell, leaning back on the couch. "You want my opinion?"

"Do I have a choice?"

The woman gave a small smile as she continued on. "I understand why you'd want to go back after all that you've gone through," she stated. "But sometimes we make choices, thinking it's best for everyone, when maybe they do more harm than good."

"So you're saying Claire and Dana are right."

"I'm saying you should take everyone else who's been there for you into consideration before making a decision."

Jenna let out a scoff. "You sound just like them."

"We just want what's best for you. You know that, right?"

She looked over at her mom once again, noticing the compassion in her eyes, then nodded and gave her a weak smile back. "Yeah, I know."

Dorothy pulled her daughter in for a brief hug, in which Jenna took in the embrace while it lasted. When the two pulled away, Dorothy got up from her spot on the couch, looking down at Jenna. "I'm assuming you're still not interested in going to the Labor Day Celebration?"

Grinning, Jenna stood up. "I guess I could go for a little while. Maybe some of my friends will be there."

Dorothy's smile turned grateful. "Just be careful, okay? I'll be at the Byers' house if you need anything."

"Why are you going there?" Jenna questioned.

"To check on Joyce. I just wanna make sure she's okay."

"Right." Jenna felt bad for not checking on any of them ever since she saw Carter at the candlelight vigil. She made a mental note to do that soon.

So the two headed out of the house together and bid each other goodbyes as they got into their own cars and pulled out of the driveway, going in opposite directions once they made it to the end of the street.

When Jenna arrived at downtown Hawkins, she was almost thrown off by how lively the town was, as it was the first time in a while she had seen it like this. But she figured everyone was trying to get back to a normal routine, something that she wanted for herself as well. The streets were crowded with people going to different tables filled with food, piling what they could on a single plate. Jenna began to get overwhelmed with the choices and smells that she didn't even know where to start. While taking another look at her options, she felt someone bump into her.

"Sorry!" the person called out when he locked eyes with Jenna. "Oh, hey, Howard."

Jenna pressed her lips for a moment before responding. "Hey, Munson. Kind of surprised to see you here. Didn't think this was your scene."

"Yeah, well, there's free food and band practice is just a few blocks over," he explained.

"Since when are you in a band?"

"Since when do you care?"

Jenna was taken aback by the snarky remake. "Excuse me for being curious."

"Is that why you were riding by Janet's trailer a few weeks ago? Because you were being curious?"

She felt her blood beginning to boil, remembering when she saw him at the trailer park that night. "I lost my best friend, you asshole," she snapped, trying not to lose it in front of him.

"Oh, I'm the asshole? Not your mom, who dumped my uncle?"

Jenna almost froze at his words, puzzled. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Eddie raised his eyebrows, surprised at her response. "You don't know? She broke up with him when all those funerals for that mall fire were happening."

For a moment, she didn't want to believe him, thinking he was only saying this just to piss her off. But then she recalled seeing Wayne at the candlelight vigil and how sad he looked when he saw her mom there. Dorothy never told Jenna about it after she said she would.

Before she could say anything back to him, a few boys behind Eddie were calling his name, in which he turned around for a brief moment and waved at them to hold on for another minute, then looked back at Jenna once again.

"Just let your mom know that he's still heartbroken over it." With that, Eddie spun around and walked away, joining his friends as they hurried off down the street.

Jenna took a minute to calm down, letting Eddie's story of what happened to her mom and his uncle sink in. Her mom was so happy with him. So why did she let him go?

Not wanting to think about it any more until she saw her mom again, Jenna pushed it to the back of her mind and continued walking downtown when she suddenly stopped again at the sight of Steve ahead of her, and the butterflies suddenly came back. When he finally glanced her way, she was beaming, trying to hide the shyness of her expression, also noticing the way his eyes lit up as he waved her over. While making her way over to him, she did her best to bury the recurring funny feeling that was growing at the bottom of her stomach.

"Nice to see a friendly face here," she stated.

"Yeah, I saw you talking to Munson just now," he said. "I almost thought I had to come and save you."

Jenna forced out a chuckle. "He's harmless, trust me." She was hoping that he didn't notice the nervousness in her laugh. Whether or not he did, she didn't get the chance to find out, because the familiar sound of Robin's voice broke through.

"There you are, dingus!" Robin jogged over next to him, carrying a tray of drinks in her hands, turning to see Jenna standing there. "And you found Jenna."

"Hi, Robin," she greeted her.

She glanced back over at Steve, grinning, then back at Jenna. "Did Steve tell you where we were going?"

"No, he didn't," Jenna replied, raising her eyebrows at him.

"I was about to before you interrupted us," he told Robin. "We're going to the fairgrounds, if you wanna join us."

"The fairgrounds?" Jenna repeated. "Is the stuff from the Fourth of July still there?"

"Well, no, but at least no one's gonna bother us out there," he pointed out.

"Plus, Carlie's getting some burgers and fries to-go for us," Robin added.

Smiling, Jenna nodded her head. "Yeah, that sounds like fun."

"Awesome! I'll be right back." Robin quickly headed back in the direction she came from.

"Careful with the drinks!" Steve called out, though he was sure Robin didn't hear him.

"Does she ever slow down?" Jenna asked jokingly.

"I don't think so," he said, chuckling.

"Well, she definitely likes to keep you on your toes."

Steve nodded, his eyes going back to Jenna. "Yeah, I know the feeling."

Jenna stared at him for a moment, responding with, "Me, too." She could already sense the tension about to rise between them.

Fortunately, Steve cleared his throat and spoke up again before it could actually form. "I, uh, would've called you if I had planned on coming out here. It was kind of last minute."

"It's fine," she assured him. "To be honest, I'm only here because my mom thought it'd be good for me to get out of the house."

"Is everything okay?" he questioned in a concerned tone.

"Yeah," she lied smoothly. "Everything's fine."

Steve opened his mouth to say something, as if he was about to press on with the matter, but he ended up nodding instead.

Robin came back with Carlie in tow, now with an extra drink in the tray and four burgers and fries, smiling hard. "Ready to get out of here?" she asked.

"Let's go," Steve stated, leading the girls out of the street and to his BMW parked at Leslie's Diner.

Jenna took the passenger's seat, while Robin and Carlie took the back, already talking amongst each other. When Steve began to drive off, Jenna did her best to keep her eyes on the road straight ahead, but there were times where she found herself stealing glimpses at him when he didn't notice. And with every glance came the occasional stir inside her stomach, something that she hadn't felt with him in a while, which caused her to whip her head away before it got too strong.

Before they knew it, Steve was pulling into the parking lot and turning the car off. The four piled out and headed to the entrance of the fairgrounds, staring at the NO TRESPASSING sign at the front of the gate, where Robin picked at the lock and got it open for them, being the first to enter inside, with the others following suit. Like Steve said, everything had been packed up for the year, leaving only a few tables scattered all over the property, though they all tried to picture how it would look with the lights, rides, arcade games, and concession stands.

"Kind of weird seeing this place so empty," Carlie commented.

"And knowing that the entire town was here on the Fourth of July while we were..." Robin trailed off, her eyes going to the others, which made her decide not to finish her sentence.

While Jenna wished Robin hadn't brought it up, she understood what she was getting at. She couldn't imagine being here that night, having the time of her life, while there were Russians and monsters trying to take over the town and people were fighting to protect it. Her people.

"I think I see a table over there," Carlie spoke up, pointing at a picnic table almost near the treeline.

So the four made their way over to the table, setting up their food and drinks, with Robin and Carlie sitting on one side, then Steve and Jenna on the other.

"So, uh, have you guys found another job yet?" Jenna inquired towards Steve and Robin, breaking the silence.

"Not yet," Steve answered.

"I told them that they could come work at Leslie's with me," Carlie chimed in.

"And I already told you that we didn't want to work another job that involved slinging burgers," Robin reminded her.

"Or tacky uniforms," Steve added.

Jenna cracked a grin at his comment. "I'm sure you guys will find something soon."

"Yeah, hopefully," he mumbled.

"Well, the offer still stands if you two change your minds," Carlie said.

"Hey, what if you got Jenna a job there?" Robin suggested.

"Robin..." Steve spoke up in a warning tone.

"What?" It took her a moment, then she dropped her mouth at the realization of what she just said. "Shit. My bad, Jenna. I forgot."

"It's okay," she muttered. So much for not thinking about that tonight.

"No, I wasn't thinking when I said it," she said, picking at her fries. "I tend to do that sometimes."

Steve let out a scoff across from her. "Sometimes?" he muttered.

"Like you've got room to talk," she retorted. "It was your big mouth that cost us the jobs at Bradley's Big Buy."

"In my defense, the manager totally threw me off with that one interview question."

Robin shifted her eyes between Jenna and Carlie. "They asked us what we would do if we caught a customer trying to shoplift."

"And I found out that saying you'll just take them out yourself is not an acceptable answer," Steve added sheepishly.

"Oh my God, Steve!" Carlie shrieked, dropping her jaw in shock.

"You did not say that," Jenna stated in disbelief.

"Yeah, he did," Robin explained. "Therefore, I had to intervene and try to save his ass."

"Which only made things worse," he reminded her.

"And you can guess how the rest of the interview went after that," Robin finished.

Jenna and Carlie glanced at each other from across the table and went into a fit of giggles, unable to control it once they started. Even Robin was beginning to have a hard time holding back a grin, while Steve didn't find it very funny, rolling his eyes at the girls.

"Okay, it's not that funny," Steve stated.

"It kind of is," Carlie replied, continuing to laugh.

"You fight one Russian and you think you're invincible," Jenna commented.

"Hey, we can't all have badass powers like you," he retorted.

While the three continued to cackle, almost to the point where their stomachs were hurting, Steve eventually went back to his food, waiting for the humiliation to blow over. However, he finally cracked a small smile and let out a chuckle with the others.

After most of the laughter died down, the girls joined Steve in eating their dinner, though it was difficult with fries being thrown across the table due to playful arguments started by one of them. Jenna took a moment to scan her eyes across the table and grin at them, despite no one paying any attention to her. But she didn't care, because they were all here having a good time together, after they all had been through. She couldn't even remember the last time any of them had fun like this, including herself. It was a feeling that she missed, especially with Janet not here with them.

If only she was here for this, Jenna thought.

"Look!" Carlie exclaimed, standing up from her seat and staring out at the distance in awe.

The other three turned their heads at what Carlie saw, eyes going wide at the glowing lights dancing around the field. After getting out of their spots from the table for a better look, they realized that it was fireflies.

"Holy shit," Robin mumbled.

"I've never seen so many like this," Jenna added.

Suddenly, Carlie grabbed Robin's hand and pulled her to see the fireflies up close, giggling like kids without a care in the world, while Steve and Jenna stayed behind and watched with amusement. However, their eyebrows went up when they saw the girls getting a little closer than usual, then disappearing by the fenceline where they couldn't be seen anymore.

"You do know about--?" Steve began to ask.

"Yeah," Jenna quickly answered. "You think they're gonna go--?"

"Probably."

The two turned towards each other and laughed, with Jenna heading over to the field in the middle of the fireflies, her smile radiating the same glow. She looked back at Steve, and he was staring back at her with a wonder in his eyes that she thought was gone. For a moment, he looked as if his life finally had some meaning again, and that made Jenna's heart flutter a little seeing him like this, hoping he'd hold onto it for as long as he could.

God, he really did see her.

The longer they stood there, clinging to each other's gazes, it felt as if they were back in his pool. Despite neither one of them bringing it up, the familiar tension made it obvious that what didn't happen that night was looming over the two. Just when Steve lifted his foot to take a step towards Jenna--

"Cops!"

The sound of Robin's voice snapped Steve and Jenna out of their trance, shifting their now puzzled attention to Robin and Carlie frantically dashing their way.

"Did she just say 'cops?'" Steve spoke up.

"I think so," Jenna said.

"We gotta go!" Carlie shouted.

"Two cops saw us from the parking lot!" Robin added.

With wide eyes, Steve and Jenna followed Robin and Carlie across the field and towards the fenceline, where the four of them climbed over and landed in the woods, the adrenaline still pumping as they made a run in between the trees, hearing the officers yell after them from a distance. The four hid behind the trees, with the girls trying to contain their giggles as flashlights briefly appeared near them.

"Stop, they'll hear us," Steve mumbled in an attempt to be serious about the situation, though it didn't help as he smirked alongside them.

Once the officers started making their way back to the entrance of the fairgrounds, Steve was the first to step out and make sure they were in the clear, looking out for a moment before motioning to the other girls that the cops were gone, helping each of them hop back over the fence. The group finally couldn't hold back as they howled in the air, throwing their heads back and nearly tripping over their own feet in the process.

"Holy shit, that was close!" Robin breathed out.

They stayed that way for a moment, soaking in the exhilaration together. And the longer Jenna stared at her friends, the longer she wished this moment would last forever...

BOOM!

The sudden sound and burst of color coming from the sky snapped the group out of their thoughts, startled as they looked up to see fireworks going off. Normally, they would've been staring at the explosions in awe, but given the circumstances they were under just two months ago, that wasn't the case. Instead, the silhouette of the Mind Flayer was all they could see with every crackle, its screeches echoing in the back of their minds. While Steve, Robin, and Carlie appeared to keep themselves composed, Jenna was having a harder time doing so, feeling her chest tightening with every breath and her body temperature rising.

"Jenna?" Steve called out, focusing his attention on her. "Jenna, what's wrong?"

"I think she's having a panic attack," Robin commented.

"And one of those episodes," Carlie added, pointing at the blood now running down Jenna's nose.

"I..." Jenna trailed off, shaking her head and gasping for air. "I-I can't breathe."

"Hey, hey, just look at me, okay?" He placed his hands on both sides of her face. "Focus on me, Jenna."

She kept her eyes on Steve, even when they were burning and watering up from the tears forming. But no matter how long she tried to focus on him, the loud bursts from the sky only made the flashbacks in her head grow stronger. "It's not working!" she cried out.

The panic in Steve's face was beginning to show. "You guys got any suggestions?" he frantically asked the other two.

"She needs a better distraction!" Robin shouted.

"That's not very helpful, Robin!"

"Maybe you should try something else," Carlie intervened.

"Like what?"

"Well, uh, there's breathing techniques or focusing on your five senses...you know, smell, sight, touch--"

Before Carlie could finish her sentence, Steve leaned in and pressed his lips onto Jenna's. Thrown off guard, Jenna froze in place as she shut her eyes, concentrating on his mouth against hers. She began to tune out her surroundings, feeling her breathing slowing down and the heavy weight on her chest lifting the longer she stayed in Steve's embrace like this. After another moment, he gradually pulled away and opened his eyes, with Jenna doing the same, no longer hearing any more fireworks going off. She held her stare at Steve, focusing on her heart rate still beating at a faster pace than usual.

"I'm guessing that worked," Steve stated in a low voice, not letting go of Jenna.

"Uh, yeah, it did," Jenna replied, sniffling.

Steve brushed his thumb across her cheek to wipe away any tears before dropping his hands and taking a step back. Jenna glanced down at her feet and used her arm to get rid of the blood that came out of her nose, lifting her head back up and blinking away any more tears before they could fall down her cheek. She then turned her head towards Robin and Carlie, who had their lips pressed awkwardly in an attempt to keep their mouths shut at what they just witnessed. But when Robin slightly opened her mouth to say something, Steve beat her to it.

"We should get going," he spoke. "We don't wanna be here if those cops decide to come back."

The girls silently agreed as they gathered their food and drinks from earlier and threw it away in a nearby trashcan before exiting the fairgrounds and piling back inside Steve's BMW. During the ride back downtown, the four didn't say a word, letting the music fill the car up. Jenna didn't dare to look over at Steve this time, fidgeting with her hands as a way to keep herself preoccupied. When he arrived at Leslie's Diner, no one moved for a moment, as if someone was waiting for the tension to break.

"I'm gonna take Robin home," Carlie finally said, opening the car door. "I had fun tonight."

"Yeah, same," Robin added. "We should do this again sometime. You know, before Jenna--" She stopped abruptly when she realized how the sentence was going to end, not wanting to cause any more friction. "Shit. I did it again."

"Let's just go," Carlie muttered as she was about to step out of the car, flashing a small smile up front. "See you guys later. Drive safe."

Steve and Jenna merely nodded back at Carlie before she got out of the car, doing the same when Robin followed her out. Now with just the two of them alone again, things were even more delicate than before.

"Where's your car at?" he asked.

"It's at the park," she answered.

Nodding again, he put the car in reverse and drove out of the parking lot of Leslie's, taking a short drive down the road and to the park, pulling up to the empty spot next to her car.

"About what happened--" Jenna began to say.

"I'm sorry," Steve quickly cut her off. "I couldn't get you to calm down and I was starting to panic. Then Carlie mentioned something about touch and I just..." He shook his head before continuing on. "I shouldn't have done that."

"Steve--"

"It was a mistake, Jenna."

Her face fell at his words. She opened her mouth to respond, though no words came out. Instead, she gave Steve a sad look, a part of her hoping to see the regret in his eyes at what he just said. But after glancing his way for a moment, all she could see was avoidance, and that made her heart break a little.

"Thanks for tonight," she finally mumbled, opening the passenger door and hurried out of the car, shutting the door behind her. She didn't turn around this time, only listening to Steve pulling out of the parking spot and driving away as the tears came back in full force, wishing she had his gentle touch to wipe them away again.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Well, that was unexpected oop.

What did we think? I rewrote this chapter four times but I'm happy with how it turned out!

Comment, vote, only 2 more chapters left until the end of part three!

-A