dis·re·spect

verb

show a lack of respect for; insult.

Steve and Nancy locked lips, his hand under her curly hair. He often thought about how much they had overcome, and how they had become a couple that was different from the rest. Unlike the superficial relationships that came and went with all teenagers, they had something that was strong. Steve loved her, the way he could look into her doe eyes and never stop, the things they had shared with each other, from intimacy to monsters, they had a bond that wasn't unlike the one Emilia and Jonathan had.

Of course, Steve knew that he had made more mistakes in the relationship than Jonathan had made with Emilia, but they were too different to compare. Steve no longer worried about Nancy having feelings for Jonathan; they'd been together for over a year, and Emilia and Jonathan didn't seem to see anyone around them. Often times he spotted them in the halls, talking about cameras -or whatever- and he'd nod and wave, but they didn't see him.

It didn't bother him, he wasn't invisible to anyone else, and everyone was invisible to Emilia and Jonathan. Despite what they had all gone through last year, they didn't become friends. But Jonathan was no longer tormented by Steve, or even Tommy for that matter. And Emilia wasn't bullied by Carol either. Things smoothed over for them, and Steve was happy about that. Unable to change what he had done in the past, he did not dwell on it, but he always thought about what he did in the present now.

"I'll see you between class?" Steve asked, always a bit needier than Nancy these days. He noted it. She noted it.

"Yeah," she said as she brushed her hair behind her ear. "We should work on that essay tonight."

"Ugh," Steve groaned. When he saw she was serious he pouted. "Fine, but only if I can take you out for dinner."

"It's a date," she nodded in agreement.

As Steve headed to gym class with a smile on his face, thinking about where he would take Nancy for dinner as a reward for working on the essay he told her he started a week ago -and hadn't- he popped into the locker room. Loud chatter filled his ears, the rank scent of stale sweat over the years welcomed him. He wrinkled his nose automatically -even though he was great at any and all sport he was made to do, he was also able to keep up on his personal hygiene, and wondered how some of the other kids failed to do that.

The chatter brought forth a new voice, Steve noted as he changed from his jeans to his shorts. He stripped his shirt off and dug through his bag for his gym shirt. Feeling around, he noticed someone standing next to him, opening the locker that was always vacant. Side-eyeing him, he saw that it was a new kid, with long hair; a trend that really never caught Steve's interest.

"You must be Steve," the kid said, his accent strong.

"The one and only." Steve found his shirt and stood tall, face to face with the new kid. The new kid was bigger than him, but he didn't let any fear show. He was top dog here at Hawkins High.

"Heard you're quite the ladies man here. Secret spot? Special restaurant?"

"Just my good looks and undeniable charm," Steve replied.

The kid laughed.

"Anyone I should watch out for? Crazies?"

"Carol," Steve replied swiftly, almost too quickly.

He laughed, "I'm Billy, by the way."

Steve nodded, but said nothing more. They had to be out in the gym in minutes, and Billy was slowing him down. He did not want to be rude to the new kid, whose accent was clearly from California so he'd come a long way, but he also didn't want to become friends with him. He offered a half-assed smile and walked past Billy to where the change rooms led into the gym. He overheard something Billy said to another kid in the change rooms, something that made him stop.

"Who's the chick with the burns?" Billy asked.

Steve slowed his walk, perking up.

Someone replied, "Oh, that's Emilia Roth, weird girl. Dating the creep."

Billy laughed, "Well, it shouldn't take long to get her to forget about some creep. Weird girls love attention, they are always looking for someone to validate them, you know? Oh, this'll be an easy mark, for sure."

Steve dug his feet into the ground, stopping himself mid-step. He'd said things like that before. Tommy still said things like that. Steve thought about what Tommy had done to Emilia, and everything else that she had been through. Although he didn't think he'd said more than ten combined words to her since the incident last year, he still couldn't let Billy go around talking about her like that. He owed it to her, and honestly, he owed it to Jonathan to stand up for Emilia when he wasn't around to do it.

Steve turned and faced Billy, who had begun walking to the gym and was right in front of Steve now. Steve raised his hand, finger pointing accusingly. "Emilia's not an easy mark, and she could verbally rip you to shreds if she wanted to."

"Oh, you got the hots for her?" Billy laughed, "Hell, I can hardly stand to look at her, but I can mark that off my list. Banged the burned girl. Check."

Steve couldn't believe Billy had said that, had outright disrespected her like that. He could believe it, actually, old Steve probably would have laughed right along with him. But New Steve thought about Nancy, and how he would react if someone said that about her. He didn't want to fight Billy, but he wasn't going to stand down.

"Stay away from Emilia, Billy," Steve told him, even though he knew he was making it worse. Billy wouldn't lay off now, but Steve couldn't stop himself. "If you don't, there a lot of people who will make sure you wish you had, including Emilia."

The coach came in and hollered, "What the hell is keeping you boys? Get in the gym, now!"

"Time to play," Billy grinned wickedly, shoving past Steve and striding into the gym with a cocky gait.

Steve wanted to grab his greasy hair and shove his nose into the wall, but he simply followed Billy out into the gym. Getting into a fight in school was a big no-no, but he could show him up on the basketball court. Sometimes all it took was a bit of competition and a solid win to make another guy back off, but little did Steve know that Billy was better at almost everything. He got his ass handed to him on that court, not to mention a black eye when Billy "accidentally" elbowed him.

When they were in the change rooms after class, Steve was fuming. Typically he would have left it as is, accepted the loss. But Billy had his eye set on Emilia, and it was Steve's duty as a decent person to tell Jonathan. He felt slimy as he walked down the halls, looking for Jonathan, running like a dog with his tail between his legs from the wolf that had showed up in Hawkins.

"Hey, Steve!" Nancy called, "Where are you going in such a hurry, I thought we were going to meet at my locker?"

Steve spun on his heels when he heard Nancy, "Sorry Nanc, I have to find Jonathan."

Nancy's eyes widened in surprise, "Why? What happened to your eye?"

Steve sighed, "Do you know where he is?"

"Him and Emilia have a spare, I think, they probably took off."

"Damn it," he mumbled.

"Hey," Nancy placed her hand on Steve's shoulder, "What's wrong?"

"It's that damn new kid, he's talking about Emilia like..." he averted his eyes.

Nancy made a face, "Oh, Steve. It's sweet of you to be concerned, but girls go through this every day of our lives. Guys talking about us like we're a cut of meat isn't anything new, sweetie."

Steve was about to protest, but he knew that she was right. Dropping his shoulders, he gave up his search for Jonathan, but it lingered on his mind the rest of the day. The next time he saw Jonathan, he would tell him, he decided.

Billy gave him the creeps. 

This was a longer chapter, because I had so much fun writing it! I don't even think Jonathan and Billy even cross paths in the show?

Question of the day: Were you surprised to see Steve as the one to defend Emilia?

Dedicated to Amazing_izzy, check out their Jon Byers story "Girls on Film"!