STEVE

"IN YOUR FACE! IN YOUR PRETTY. LITTLE. FACE!" Steve whipped out a finger and held it in front of Katie's squinted eyes. "One minute, but it makes all the difference,"

"No, no, no. Rerun, next time-"

"What the hell? No, you lost-"

"-How was I supposed to control the animal mind?!"

"You lost fair and square," Steve said over her protesting. "Suck it,"

"Where is it again?" Katie said with mirth, before: "Rerun. What was I supposed to do, huh? Squash a bunch of ducklings?"

"Uh, no. Turn the steering wheel, maybe? Just a suggestion?"

"Nope. Nope, that back there was unlawful interference,"

"Sure," Steve scoffed. They were in a Fort Wayne carnival parking lot, 55 miles from Hawkins. Faint sounds of kids screaming, popping balloons, and food sizzling came from their right, but both of them were too concentrated on their current conversation. See, when they'd raced here, Katie had claimed she only lost because a family of ducks had taken forever crossing in front of her car. "Get it in your head, huh? Past all that hair,"

"Oh, I'm sorry- I didn't hear that last part, my mane was blocking the noise out. Commanded a rematch, though," Katie said, and Steve could tell that she knew she lost, though she was still trying to annoy him.

"Uh, command denied. But," Steve said, holding out his arm smugly like how the guys did in the royal-era movies his mom watched all the time. "Commence Mission Ladybird?"

"You're so cheesy," Katie said, laughing as she rolled her eyes. She slung her wrist over his upper arm, grinning. Her laugh was loud and clear, like how waves would crash against rocks on beaches at night. And her eyes were like the silver-colored moons that gave strength to the rough waters.

Steve laughed with her as he dragged her to the ticket booth. Pooling both their pocket change, they got a good few hours' worth of tickets, little slips of stiff scarlet paper connected to each other like stamps on a chain. 

"Come on, let's do everything," Steve said, admiring the way Katie looked around at the kaleidoscope that was the blur of color around her. Steve could see the different lights of rides and people reflected in her irises, all set before what was shaping up to be a stunning sunset.

"Okay," Katie giggled, and Steve grinned back, her excitement infectious. 

If Steve learned anything from the first hours, it was that Katie loved adrenaline. A lot. He didn't think anyone loved bumper cars or Loop-o-Planes as much as her. Even Steve, who lived for the thrill, was subject to the wild glee in Kathryn Wheeler's eyes as she purposefully cornered him in a side of the mini racecourse, ramming into him multiple times. God, Steve didn't know how long she could kept that up without having a single urge to throw up. 

They were currently on a Himalaya, a circular ride that was basically an underfunded rollercoaster for kids. The forty-person line was definitely notworth it to Steve, but he'd change his mind later. The cars were painted with a chipping white color, little red stars against the rocky textures to imitate the hilly landscapes of the mountains. 

"Hey. Hey, hey, watch the head-" Steve began as the tips of her hair flicked against the low ceiling of the entrance

"Okay, okay!" Kat laughed as she stumbled into the front car. "C'mon, sit next to me,"

"I will, Jesus," Steve grinned as he climbed in as well, his legs too big and too long to make the journey unawkward. The seats barely fit his butt, half of it too big for the thin blue metal platforms, and there was some weird stain on one end that looked like purple jelly. A middle-aged woman wearing a cheap conductor's suit and a red name tag that said TRAINMASTER blew her whistle, and yelled for them all to keep their hands on the support bar at all times. Katie shoved the hood of his jacket over the top of his head.

"Don't want the hair to get mussed up, do we?" She said mockingly, her voice an octave lower with rich, resonating tones like caramel skies. 

"No, no. Why else do we blowdry our hair to give volume?" Steve said innocently, before taking his baseball cap and shoving it over Kat's head, which made her yelp at the attempt to sabotage her voluminous curls. Yet before she could make a move, the ride screeched and leaned them all backwards for a space, before lurching forward into sudden action.

"Oh, shit," Katie gasp-laughed. When they were lining up, it did not look that fast. The tracks of the ride blurred into a rusted-red line that zipped in front of them, as Steve felt his hair get, indeed, messed up with the wind hurtling past and shrieking in his ears.

"Oh, god, oh my god, god, god god," he said instinctively as they crossed over a hill in the ride, their car shaking with the effort before regaining its balance. Yet Katie's laughter echoed over it all, like a lifeline over his shock, like the stitches holding it, him, together. And if he hadn't been scared like shit, he could've turned to his right and seen her beaming smile as she screamed in delight.

Another runthrough of the course later, Steve felt his hands go numb as he took them off the handlebar, puffing out his cheeks with an exaggerated sigh.

"You scared?" Katie said, a twisty smile playing on her face.

"You wish," Steve said stubbornly and dragged her out of the seat.

They went on the Pendulum ride next, a contraption that resembled a hammer as they swung back and forth above the carnival, strapped into hard wooden seats. Maybe it was the monster fighting stress from a few weeks ago, but they stumbled out like teenagers on alchohol.

"That. Was fun," Steve sighed in exhilaration, running a hand through his hair, which, the Farah Fawcett spray had apparently evaporated out of during the ride.

"Yeah," Katie said, cheeks flamed with red after the adrenaline rush. She had the same problem, though, as she tried to flatten her hair (which, during the ride, had gotten into Steve's face multiple times) to no avail. "Shit, catch me,"

She then collapsed unsteadily onto Steve, who was also unsteady with legs like jello after the ride. He didn't know whether she was expecting him to catch her or not since he was also leaning more than his weight on her shorter shoulders. Thus, they both lost their balance, tumbling to the side as they both struggled to get up from the distressed brown grass.

So they lay in a heap of tangled arms and necks on the stiff grass with remnants of yesterday's frost. Steve was pretty sure their legs were all overlapping each other, but the jelly feeling hadn't gone away yet. And they were both laughing, the passersby not paying one bit of attention since there were far brighter things to turn to. 

"Fuck, I can't get up," Steve pressed on Kat's left as an attempt to get up, yet he felt like he was stuck to the ground, so he fell back, chuckles reverbrating through his chest.

"Me neither," Katie choked out, arms dangled over his chest as her laughter bounced off onto his chest like a boost to his pheromones. She barely twisted her head up to look at him, her baggy winter coat squished underneath him against the ground. 

Illuminated against the glow-up lights of the food stand nearby, Steve could see little hints of ice blue in her irises, highlighted against her beaming smile, an icy embrace Steve could easily imagine himself getting lost in.

"Hi," Steve said softly to her as they lay on the ground.

"Hey," She said back, her voice like a whisper in a winter forest. 

"Wanna get up?"

"Not really. It's cold outside,"

"C'mon, I'll keep ya warm," he said, huffing and attempting to sit up on his elbows, but failing. Katie laughed at his fail, rolling out of their hasty embrace before getting on her knees, using the grass to push herself up to the 'hands on knees post-workout' position. She extended out her right arm. 

Grinning slightly, Steve grabbed it and yanked on it hard to pull himself up as well. Katie had planted her feet so she didn't stumble back down, but his entire body weight startled her, as her feet stepped over each other as she almost crashed into his chest again. 

Steve looked to her, their bodies barely three inches apart. Their breath made dragon puffs in the night air. Katie was only half an inch shorter than him, but his hair was two inches taller. Yet, if he looked straight ahead, he could see her grey eyes everywhere, paired with lips tinged with red lollipop coloring and redness from the cold as she smiled.

"Your tongue is blue," she said to him, and Steve realized he was smiling back.

"Oh, yeah? Yours is purple," he said, pointing ever so slightly with his chin at her.

"Purple's hotter," 

Steve rolled her eyes at the lame joke she made, though he smiled through it nonetheless. It was only then when he realized he still held her right hand from when she'd offered it to pull him up. Though she was wearing mittens, he could feel the warmth eminating from his own hand onto her own. Her hand was wrapped around his own like a hot-dog bun, and the material of her mittens was insanely soft.

"Oh. Uh," Katie said, and let go of his hand, folding her own hands together and taking half a step back. Steve was never cold, as a kid his dad would say that his blood ran warm, and Steve believed it. Yet when the heat returned as Katie pulled away, Steve's heart tugged a little, as if he was telling himself to go back to her, go back where her cold balanced his fire.

"Um. Yeah," Steve retracted his hand as well, using it to scratch the back of his neck. "Uh, you cold? Wanna get some hot cocoa?"

"Right, sure," Katie said, her voice a little clipped but still warm and friendly. They hastily hurried to the drinks stand, where they lined up for a minute or two before ordering. Katie leaned up real close to the counter in front of Steve.

"Oi. Hey, hey, hey," Steve said as he watched her hand two dollars to the guy that ran the stand. 

"Nope. Nooope, you paid for the tickets so I'm paying for the food," Katie said stubbornly, as the guy handed them two steaming hot chocolates in styrofoam cups.

"Fine," Steve said huffily, taking his own drink and leading Katie away. "Wanna go on the Wonder Wheel?"

"Yep, let's go," Katie said, and they lined up for the ride.

"Well, aren't you the expert?" Katie asked, half a caramel apple in one hand and an almost-empty hot chocolate in the other.

"I guess, but this stuff- he has to figure it out for himself, a lot of this, like, words can't get you that far," Steve muttered.

They were sitting on a stretch of brick wall on the opposite end of the carnival after the Wonder Wheel. Katie's feet swung about as they hung off the side of the wall. After their failed attempt at getting beers, they just decided to hang out for a bit since they'd been pure adrenaline the past three hours. The sun had set by now, and it was a lot colder.

"It's still good Dustin has somebody to look to," Katie said thoughtfully. 

"True. I'm constantly suspicious he'll snitch on me about Farah Fawcett. Y'know he even bought a can for himself?"

"No," Kat said, eyes widening.

"Yeah. For his Snow Ball updo, that Middle School dance next week?"

"Oh, god, yes. I remember that," Katie sighed dramatically, stirring her hot chocolate. "You know my mom volunteered for that?"

"What?" Steve jerked his chin back, confused. "Isn't there a 'no adults' rule?"

"Yep. They put that rule in place after she tried magnificently to stop me and Aaron Crawford from kissing,"

"I'm sorry- Aaron Crawford?" Steve blinked in disbelief.

"Yep," Katie nodded abashedly. "Back when he had the scoliosis brace and everything,"

"Damn," Steve said, trying to imagine Katie, gorgeous hair, gorgeous face, kissing Aaron Crowford and his braces that went around his entire head. "How was it?"

"Not pleasant. And even before she came into the picture, I just got a mouthful of metal,"

"God," Steve made a face. "Hope whoever kisses Henderson doesn't get a mouthful of gums,"

"We should invite him to this next time," Kat said after laughing sheepishly.

"No. No, no no no." Steve said firmly. "Nah, Mission Ladybird's between me and you,"

"And how's that coming along?" Katie laughed a little.

"I dunno, Ladybird," Steve said, imagining he was on a Sherlock Holmes show and narrowing his eyes pensively. "You tell me,"

"Hmm. Pretty damn good for a December carnival. And with Steve Harrington," she said slyly, bumping her shoulder into his and sending a dazzling chill down his spine.

"Let's see," Steve rested his narrowed eyes on his elbow, looking up at her now. "In this situation am I the icing on the cake or the cherry on top?"

"I'm...pretty sure those idioms mean the same thing," Katie said a little hesitantly, though her smile was never absent. "But I like berries better than frosting, so I'd say the cherry on top,"

"I'm impressed. Y'know, I thought you'd say I was the bee on some windowsill watching the cake," Steve rolled over on his back, scooting a little closer and facing towards the stars. His head lay near Katie's lap, and his eyes looked up to meet hers.

"Oh?"

"And then gets hit by a bus or something,"

"Well. You've characterized me," Katie said, her grin upside-down from Steve's angle, but her eyes remained the same.

"How'd we get here?" Steve asked her genuinely, the curious reality seeping in. "Y'know, you hated me, like, five weeks ago,"

"Uh, no, six weeks ago. And I admit I probably shouldn't have been so rude, that was uncalled for," Katie said shyly, a bit embarrassed. 

"Ya think?"

"I know- you're right, I'm sorry for that. It's just," Katie sighed, and allowed it all to spill over. "I just get...angry sometimes. People barely see it, you barely see it 'cause I'm good at covering it up, but when, y'know, the pot bubbles over, it really bubbles over. Like, I get frustrated, right? From daily stuff, like my mom or...like..."

Steve could see Katie break eye contact, her shoulders slumped.

"Taking care of Mike and Holly too much?" Steve prompted gently.

"Yeah," she said, eyes flicking to him in emotion. "And I guess...I bottle it up because I have to take care of Mike and Holly. It's so weird, I-"

"No, no, keep going," Steve said, his brows furrowed.

"Okay. Um, so I guess I just found a way to channel it out, and that was taking it out on everyone at school," Katie admitted, staring into space. 

"Wow," Steve murmured, though inside, he knew to some extent, he could relate. "So is that where Ice Queen came from?"

"I guess so," Katie sighed. "I mean, looking back, what I kept doing was pretty terrible to a lot of people, I honestly don't know why Cameron and Moni are still friends with me,"

"Katie," Steve sat up suddenly, scooting closer in seriousness. "You're more than the Ice Queen. I mean, you made mistakes when you decided to act badly to most the people at Hawkins High, but, like-"

Steve faced her fully, holding up his hands. 

"See, this is you," Steve said, and his left hand into a fist. "And here-" He used his other hand to wrap around his left hand like a cover. "Is, like, the Ice Queen,"

"Mhm," Katie said, and Steve knew she only partially believed him, but he could take partially.

"Right. Yeah. So basically, the Ice Queen is kinda, y'know, hiding the real you. From everyone else. So people at school just see this-" he gestured to his right hand covering his left. "-Except a few people. Like, Cameron and Monique saw through the cover. I see through the cover, now,"

Steve shuffled a little closer still, slowly unraveling his right hand to show his fisted left hand. 

"See? And we lo-like you, Katie! You're not some old crone living in Michigan, you can make mistakes. And it's okay you were mean to some people in high school, you've got a whole life ahead! But right now, if you want more people to see you, I dunno, I guess you're gonna have to find a way to channel that anger somewhere else,"

Steve finished his monologue out of breath, like he was a panicked instructor teaching the day before a test. His left hand was still balled up, and his lips apart in breathing almost panted.

"Oh. Wow- uh, that's a lot to process," Katie blinked, and for a second Steve was worried he overwhelmed her. He had that tendency, to jump to conclusions. 

"Yeah. Uh, I hope it made sense. Sorry- if I, like, invaded your privacy-"

"No. No, no, Steve. You're totally okay, I just-" Katie took a breath. "You're right. Actually, you're completely right. I-I'm gonna have to think about this, this, uh-"

"-Pretty revolutionary?" Steve interrupted, a hesitating smile starting to appear on his face.

"Yeah," Katie laughed. "Whoa. Like, I'm really impressed. Um, thanks for that, Steve. I- appreciate it,"

"Anytime," Steve mumbled, patting her back a little awkwardly. "I'm glad it helps,"

"It does!" Katie exclaimed, louder than Steve expected and causing him to jump a little. "This- this helps a ton!"

"Right?" Steve laughed, hopping on her excitement train.

"Yeah!" she exclaimed, childish glee on her face, and before he knew it, Steve was caught in a bear hug. 

Katie threw her arms around his neck, squeezing his back. It mostly felt like a huge winter jacket shoved in his face, but what set it apart was the fact that Steve could see her. Sorta. He could see her hair, mostly, as it was closest to his eyes. It looked black in the night illumination, but he knew it was was brown in sunlight. And it smelled like Farah Fawcett spray, like his own. Except a little different, probably some conditioner he didn't know of. But as he inhaled in shock, some strands tickled the tips of his nose, which normally would've made him flinch in suprise. However, this was Kathryn Wheeler hugging him, and his heart was too busy busting out mile-long laps to do anything. And unfortunately, it meant he was too panicked to hug her back, something he painfully remembered as she pulled away. Come back, he yelled inside, as she looked at him, cheeks tinged pink with the cold. 

"Oh- it's ten-thirty," she looked down at her Mickey Mouse watch. "Uh, I gotta go-"

"Yeah. Right, of course," Steve mumbled, trying to grasp at the pieces of his brain, which was toast.

"Okay," Katie said, and hopped down from the wall. "Uh-"

"Wait, wait. I'm going home too," Steve protested in haste, and jumped down as well, landing far elegantly than she had, his food in his hands.

"Okay, let's go," Katie whispered, and tossed her food in a nearby trash bin.

They walked around the circumference of the carnival, faint echoes of the residents of Fort Wayne filling the winter landscape. And as if they were in a freaking TV show or something, something slowly streaked across Steve's vision, landing on his jacket collar.

"Hey, it's snowing!" Katie exclaimed, opening her mouth to the sky and sticking her purple tongue out.

Steve laughed as she walked sluggishly, spinning slightly as she ducked in multiple directions, trying to catch a snowflake in her mouth. Yet she was unsuccessful, as after a few loops around Steve, she leaned her head straight again and stomped to his side, a few lines of grumpiness on her face.

"Come on, don't look so miserable," Steve grinned at her, and in complete spontaneous adrenaline, he threw his arm around her shoulders. He could feel her frame lift slightly in surprise, but other than that, she looked perfectly content and calm with it, and he felt her lean further into him. It was weird since they were both walking, but he could feel her head in the crook of his shoulder, the hood of her coat acting as a cushion for the back of her neck to catch her. Yet, Steve promised that once it was summer he would be there instead.

"This was really fun," Katie said as they approached the spot where they'd parked their cars next to each other. "I'll see you on Monday?"

"Yeah," he grinned back slightly, and let go of her. "Commence Step Three,"

"Sure, sounds great. Bye, Steve," Katie said, giving him a smile as she unlocked her car. Steve would've liked to stay for a second longer to admire her smile, but his Guide to Love manual said 'no standing around for too long and being weird' so he got in his car as well, and watched how she reversed out of the parking spot, catching his eye in her side mirror before speeding away.

Kathryn Wheeler might've been the target of Mission Ladybird, but in that moment, in his freezing-cold car that smelled like dirty socks, Steve felt just as special.

━━author's note ━━

bro this was so cute i had so much fun writing. the stuff in this chapter is too wholesome and is really important for both kat and steve's character development. 

we're switching back to kat's pov next chapter, but there are plenty more steve povs coming along and i hope yall are excited!