CHAPTER 007. BEING DIFFERENT

FINDING AN UNDERCOVER RUSSIAN SPY IS HARDER THAN YOU'D THINK.

Without the help of Robin, who was manning the counter back at Scoops, and Laurie being absent since she got grounded for the week because she came home after curfew, Steve was dragged out on a stakeout mission by Dustin during his lunch break. It was confusing, and honestly a little annoying, because what the hell does a Russian spy even look like?

Steve just wanted some quiet downtime after yet another failed attempt at asking a girl out, hoping that wallowing in his sorrows for thirty minutes or so would give him the emotional reset he needed to get though the rest of the day.

But no, Dustin Henderson decided today was a good day to be an annoying little prick, and barged into the back room like he owned the place and bothered Steve about his plan until he eventually caved and agreed to help.

Now, the two are - poorly - hidden behind some of the bushes that line the foodcourt. Eyes scanning across the mall with Dustin's ridiculously nerdy binoculars, Steve finds himself getting distracted more than he thought he would.

There, on the second floor of the mall by SHAPES Activewear Outlet, is Anna Jacobi and Mark Lewinsky, huddled incredibly close and giggling like two idiots in love.

Steve had asked out Anna a few days ago, and she had told him she wanted to focus on herself for the summer. But, apparently, focusing on herself means flirting with that total poser. His eyes are seemingly glued to the pair, jealousy starting to pump in his veins and deafening Dustin's irritated scolding.

Steve's been struggling in dating department since he graduated and his ego has been permanently bruised because of it. Ever since his douchebag dad made him get the job at Scoops, the amount of girls he's had available for spontaneous hookups have slowly declined. Because, apparently, being caught making out with the "Scoops Ahoy guy" in the back of his car is "social suicide", or some bullshit.

It shouldn't bother him. Being with a girl who'd leave him mere seconds after they've reached their momentary bliss is another heartbreak waiting to happen. But he's bored and lonely, and he really.. really wants to get his title as King Steve back. Sure, he's no longer in high school, so being at the top of the social hierarchy isn't really a necessity anymore, but is it so bad for him to want to be cool again?

Steve's should be looking for brooding men with duffel bags and earpieces, not gawking at the girls he would've had wrapped around his finger a few years ago. But can you blame him? How is he supposed to be looking for secret Russian spies while there are girls like Brenda Albright and Anna Jacobi in the mall wearing tight shirts and short skirts?

Oh, great. Now Mark's acting like he wasn't benched all season, and Anna's falling for it. Steve's teeth grit together and his lips twist when Mark suddenly whispers something into Anna's ear. Jesus Christ, whatever happened to standards? He isn't given much time to let the anger consume him, though, because Dustin smacks him in the back of the head.

"Dude, you are the worst spy in history, you know that?" The curly haired boy beside him chastised, yanking at the binoculars that hung around Steve's neck. The eldest of the two curses under his breath as he pulls his neck from the confines of the leather strap, knowing well enough that his friend would most likely choke him until he went unconscious if he didn't hand them over. "Besides, I don't get why you're even looking at girls, anyway. You have the perfect one right in front of you, and she totally digs you,"

Steve cards his hand through his hair, scoffing. "Seriously, if you say Laurie again-"

"Laurie,"

Dustin has suddenly developed a creepy interest in Steve's love life ever since he met Laurie the day after he got back from camp. Whenever she and Steve would interact, the younger boy would shine a mischievous grin at the older one, causing him to start stumbling over his words and made him make a fool out of himself.

It got to the point where Steve had to actively avoid Laurie for a few days in hopes that Dustin would drop the idea entirely. It didn't work, though, because a few days later, Dustin accused Steve of "getting down and dirty" with her because when he arrived 15 minutes late to work, Laurie coincidentally showed up, too.

"Henderson," Steve warns.

Dustin has a grin on his face when he turns to his older counterpart. Annoyingly so, he - expectedly - ignores Steve's protests and starts chanting the girl's name in a singsong voice. "Laurie, Laurie, Laurie-"

"Shut up-" Says Steve in a hushed voice, looking around them to see some lingering mall-rats shoot them questionable glares. Steve offers them an awkward wave with a pathetic smile, dropping it instantly when they finally look away.

Surprisingly, the curly haired boy is silent for a beat. He looks at Steve with a blank stare, face unmoving and unreadable. The older of the two sighs of relief, turning back towards the foodcourt with squinted eyes, searching for Anna and Mark again. However, Dustin's expression quickly turn into a toothy grin as he shouts, "Laurel!"

After flinching at the abrupt sound, Steve wave his hands dismissively. "No, dude! No way! Would you just give up on that weird dream already?" He shakes his head, eyes finally finding Anna and Mark once again. Steve grimaces whilst Mark slings his arm around Anna's shoulder as the two set off towards the escalators. He sighs, "Laurie.. she's not even my type. She's not even in the ballpark of what my type is, all right?"

"Huh. That's funny, because she seems like she's exactly what your type is. Except, you know, she actually likes you this time,"

"Thank you," Steve says sarcastically, shooting the boy an annoyed glare. Though he despises what he's suggesting, Dustin isn't the only person to see the similarities between Laurie and Nancy. Hell, the two girls were often mixed up and called by each other's names in Sophomore year.

But in Steve's humble opinion, the two are nothing alike. Sure, maybe they wear somewhat similar clothing and have somewhat similar physiques, but he thinks - no, knows - that their personalities couldn't be any more different.

For one thing, Laurie didn't drunkenly call him bullshit over and over again and confess that she didn't love him.

Steve doesn't really like thinking about his relationship with Nancy anymore. Although he still holds onto some of their fond memories together - one of which being when he got to see her reaction to the 6 month anniversary gift he bought her; a small, gold, dainty bracelet with their initials on it - he's always left with a bruised heart and a mopey mood.

He and Nancy are on good terms now, as good as they can be all things considered, and he's glad that she found someone - Even though that someone being Jonathan Byers still irks him from time to time, but thinking about the way things ended between them still pains him two years later.

A lot of the time Steve gets stuck in his head about what made him such a bad boyfriend; what made him bullshit. Despite how hard he tries, he can't seem to shake the guilt that is Barbara Holland's death from looming over him.

It's stupid, he knows that, because in what world could he have known that she was going to die that night? But that never seemed to stop the small voice in the back of Steve's head that constantly tells him that Nancy will forever blame him for it.

Hanging out with Laurie for the past few weeks has been a nice distraction from his negative thoughts. He loves listening to her endless tangents about her distaste for Larry Kline, sharing smuggled ice-cream when Robin isn't looking, and he loves the way she gets all giddy when she and Robin are talking about one of their strange adventures they've been on. She's also funny in the sort of unconventional way, and has made him laugh so hard that he's almost passed out.

When he's sad, Laurie's usually there to cheer him up with embarrassing Robin stories. When he's bored, she's always up for playing endless rounds of never have I ever with him. When he's feeling significantly more lonely in his big, empty house, while his parents are out of town, he gives her a call and they talk for hours.

Laurie Dante is a breath of fresh air in the polluted world that is Steve Harrington's life, and he considers himself privileged to be able to call her his friend.

Steve can admit that maybe being more than friends with Laurie had crossed his mind once or twice - Okay, who is he kidding? Steve's a nineteen year old guy, and the most action he's gotten in the past 3 months has been from his right hand. He's probably thought about it a million times over.

However, Steve swore to himself that those thoughts are never leaving the confines of his brain, because he'd rather shit in his hands and clap then have to watch Dustin's cocky grin when he boasts about how he anticipated the whole thing.

Steve can admit that likes her company more than he thought he would, and that she's awfully pretty and nice to marvel at. But he doesn't really like Laurie like that. He can't picture himself in a longterm relationship with her, if a relationship at all, and he's not about to mess up their friendship because he couldn't keep it in his pants.

Plus, Robin promised him that if he messed with her best friend, she'd cut off his manhood faster than he could say "Ahoy!", and he's almost certain she wasn't kidding.

Steve shakes his head. "Do you ever stop being annoying?"

"You keep saying Laurie isn't your type, Steve, but then you keep flirting with her," Notes Dustin, ignoring Steve's snarky comment entirely. "You make zero sense,"

"Flirting with- I haven't been flirting with her, dude," Steve stammers, stifling a somewhat disbelieving chuckle.

It's laughable, really. Steve's faced so many rejections this summer that he's forgotten entirely about his boyish charm, and is now totally unaware that his charismatic personality is, now more than ever, what most would consider flirty. Baffled, Dustin says, "Are you kidding me? I've heard you tell her she's cute, like, six times,"

Steve blinks. "So?"

"So?" Dustin repeats, eyes bugging out of his head. No way is Steve this stupid. Sure, he had a reputation back in high school for being a bit of a playboy, but he told Dustin that he's a changed man. The curly haired boy shoves Steve's shoulder. "That's flirting! That's literally a textbook example of flirting!"

"What?" Brows creased, Steve scoffs. "No, it's not,"

"Yeah, it is," The younger boy deadpans.

"So, what? You go to Camp.. Know.. Nothing for a month and you're suddenly an expert?" Steve challenges. Dustin is visibly irritated when he butchers the name of his camp since it's literally in his eye-line, sat on the front of the younger boy's baseball cap. "You can call someone cute without it being flirtatious, dumbass,"

"First of all, it's Camp Know Where," Dustin corrects. He shakes his head, "And second of all, I'd believe that, except I've seen how you flirted with Nancy when you two were together. The shit you pull with Laurie is eerily similar, Steve. Anybody with functioning eyeballs can see that,"

Steve runs his hands over his face. "Oh, my god,"

"Why not just ask her out?" Dustin asks, genuinely curious. "She'd obviously say yes!"

"No dude!" Exclaims Steve.

Dustin raises a sly brow. "No?"

"Yes!" Steve shouts, making the boy next to him fall silent. The sounds of the crowds of people around the pair fill the uncomfortable silence between them. However, just when Steve finally thinks Dustin had grasped that he doesn't want to talk about Laurie, the boy beside him raises his eyebrows and the corners of his mouth start turning upward. Steve groans, "No!"

Dustin stares at him. "Why not?"

Steve stutters, "Because!"

"Because why?"

Just humour him, and then he'll drop it, Steve thinks to himself. Fed up, he throws his head back with an annoyed huff. "Because she's.. she's Laurie, all right?"

The curly haired boy knits his brows together, pausing. "What the hell does that even mean?"

"Not that it's any of your business, Henderson, but she's still in school. I can't just start dating a girl who's still in high school, man. That's.. weird," Steve tells him. The funny thing is, Steve is only about a year older than Laurie. A lot of the girls he's hooked up with in the past are around Laurie's age, too- but Dustin doesn't know that, nor does he need to. "Plus, she's a people pleaser. I don't like that she's a people pleaser,"

"Nancy's the same age as Laurie," Dustin points out.

Well, shit. Steve stares. "Shut up,"

"Putting your bullshit excuse to the side," Dustin starts, turning his attention back to the crowd mall ahead of them, bringing the binoculars back up to his eyes. "Laurie being a people pleaser seems like a great way to boost your already flaming ego to me,"

Steve has to squeeze his eyes shut for a moment so he doesn't fall for Dustin's trap. The younger boy loves riling him up, and he's determined to not give him that gratification he's so desperately chasing. Steve composes himself before adding, "Yeah, well, her best friend is Robin, for God's sake,"

"So?" Dustin queries, still gazing at the crowded food court. "Robin's cool,"

Steve has to bite down on his tongue. Robin Buckley is far from cool, but he doesn't have the time or energy to debate that with Dustin again. "We can't stand each other, Henderson," The younger boy looks over at Steve with a quirked brow. Steve shrugs, "Look, I'm just saying, dating Laurie is a disaster waiting to happen,"

Dustin drops the binoculars from his hands and lets them hang from his neck. He twists his body so he can face Steve. "Haven't you heard of the phrase 'Life's too short'?" He asks, earning a hesitant nod from his friend, who has not a single clue where he's going with this. "Right, well, with the amount of times you've almost been eaten alive by a Demogorgon, Steve, you'd think maybe you'd just man up and take the risk already,"

Steve swallows harshly. He's never going to admit it aloud, but Dustin's right. Having that he's barely escaped death more than a handful of times whilst fighting inter-dimensional monsters, he shouldn't be wasting his time thinking about the what ifs.

He'd like to be more of the man he was a few years ago, reckless and willing to just go for what he wants without worrying about the consequences. But, for some strange reason, losing Laurie has become one of the few things he doesn't want to risk happening. "We're just friends, Henderson,"

"Yeah, but you could be more," Dustin emphasises, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Look, she's.." Steve's face twists. "Laurie's just.. different, all right?"

"Since when is being different a bad thing?" The curly haired boy's brows bunch together.

"It's not," Steve quickly corrects himself. "But, it's just-" He pauses. Why is he even bothering to explain this to Dustin? He wouldn't get it. "She's socially awkward and.. and that's a bad look. Like, how am I supposed to do anything with her if she can't even hold eye contact with me for more than five seconds?"

Dustin pulls a face. "Now that you're out of highschool, which means you're technically an adult, don't you think you it's time you moved on from primitive constructs such as popularity?"

"Primitive constructs?" Repeats Steve, narrowing his eyes. "That stupid shit you learned at Camp Know Nothing?"

A huff. "Camp Know Where, douchebag, and no, it's shit I learnt from life," Dustin scolds. "Instead of dating somebody because you think it's gonna make you cooler, why not date someone you actually enjoy being around?"

For the first time, Steve hesitates. Since when was this kid so wise? He wasn't expecting to be involved in a stakeout today, let alone getting somewhat decent life advice from the 14-year-old he babysits. Steve shakes his head, snapping back into reality as he says, "I'm not desperate enough to just go for the first girl who bats her eyelashes at me, okay?"

Dustin narrows his eyes. "Yeah, sure,"

"I'm not desperate, Henderson," Steve restates, raising his voice slightly.

"Whatever you say, Steve," Dustin mumbles, bringing back the binoculars to his eyes. "We need to focus,"

Steve shoves the smaller boy defensively. "I'm not desperate!"

"Okay, Jesus!" Exclaims Dustin. He shoots Steve a momentary glare. "Just don't come crying to me when you regret missing out on your chance at finding your Suzie,"

There it is. Steve has been waiting for Dustin to find a way to incorporate her into their conversation, much like every one they've had since he got back. Goddamn Suzie. The girl Henderson apparently managed to get with while staying at his dorky camp.

Even with all of the constant gloating Dustin bothers him, Laurie, and Robin with, they've still yet to see or hear anything that proves her existence. No way in hell is she real, but Steve isn't that much of an asshole to voice his skepticisms and burst his younger friend's bubble.

That doesn't mean he's going to drop his attitude, though.

"Oh, Suzie. Yeah, you mean 'Hotter than Pheobe Cates'? That Suzie?" Steve starts, the sarcasm dripping from his tongue. Dustin starts slowly bringing down the binoculars from his eyes and turns his gaze over to his older friend. The younger boy rolls his eyes, and Steve scratches the side of his head. "And, uh, let's think about it. How exactly did you score that beautiful girlfriend? Oh, yeah, with my advice, because that's how this works, Henderson. I give you the advice, and you follow through. Not the other way round, all right, pea-brain?"

Dustin open's his mouth to protest, but is cut off by a familiar giggle - one Steve has come to adore the sound of - echoing from behind them. Steve and Dustin snap their heads around in a panic to see who the hell is eavesdropping, and are met with none other than the reasoning for their endless bickering, Laurie Dante.

Brows slightly raised, cheeks rosy, hair a tad messy, and a smile lacing her glossy lips, she laughs, "Pea-brain?"

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authors note!

this chapter was initially supposed to include the scene where dustin and steve chase after the "russian spy" (who just ends up being a jazzercise instructor) but i got carried away writing in steve's perspective LMAO.

also, do not fret! steve considering laurie as nothing more than a friend is subject to change, just you wait. 😼

i hope everyone's had a good weekend! thank u all so much for the endless support.

WHEN HE SEES ME © austrxlians, 2022.