Beautiful Destruction.

One.

"I..." She began, and he just looked at her. "I don't deserve you." He smiled, kissing her once again, before stepping back to open the car door for her.

"Madame."

"The princess treatment, I like it."

"Screw that, this is the Queen treatment."

-----

The next morning, after some very stern words with her brother, Steve picked her up, as he did every morning since, and he'd asked her to proofread his college essay before he turned it it. So she sat quietly in the passenger seat, trying so very hard to make sense of what she was reading. And from the look on her face, he knew it wasn't good enough.

"Okay..." She began, then paused as she searched for what words to use to sound like she wasn't ripping it to shreds.

"It sucks, doesn't it?"

"No!" She quickly assured him. "It's just... it doesn't make sense. See, here you talk about your basketball team in the big game, but then down here you talk about your grandfather's experience in the war. What's the link there?"

"We both won." He shrugged.

"Wh- I... When's the due date?"

"Tomorrow for early submissions." He sighed, taking it from her hands and screwing it up. "Forget it, whatever."

"No, no, it just needs some tweaking." She said, attempting to straighten it back out. "I can help you. In fact, I'll do it for you."

"What?"

"I'll do it for you, tonight. Just don't get used to it, this is a one time offer."

"I'm gonna fail anyway."

"Hey, don't say that."

"It doesn't matter. I'm just gonna end up working for my dad. Which is great, because then I could stay. And we could have a real future together." She shifted in her seat to face him.

"You know that I love you, and you know that the thought of you leaving breaks my heart... but don't you dare give up your dreams for me. No matter where it is that you go, I'm always gonna be here waiting for you. I mean, let's be honest, my home-sickness would never allow me to leave Hawkins. But if you don't take this while it's being offered to you, I swear to god, I'm gonna kill you. Okay?" He didn't respond, just nodded. "I believe in you. You're gonna do great."

-----

Lunch was finally upon them, and Antionette was having a peaceful stroll down the hallway to her locker. She pulled it open, changing last periods books to next periods books. She stopped, when she heard a whitle, causing her to turn her head. She set eyes on a boy, one she'd never seen before, in a crowd of the well-known, not-very-well-liked kids. He sent her a smile, and a wink, but she simply turned away from him. She couldn't stand boys like that. Ones that thought they were hot shit. One of the reasons she hated Steve for a long time. Because of how entitled he was. He would walk around like good things would come to him just because he was Steve Harrington. But since everything last year, he stopped caring about his image, and more about the people he surrounded himself with. The people who loved him. She was broken from her thoughts when there was a slam against the neighbouring locker, and she once again turned her head.

"Can I help you?" She spoke.

"What's a girl like you doing carrying her own books to class, huh?" He spoke, chewing on a piece of gum.

"You think I need a man to carry a few books for me?" She scoffed. "How helpless do you think I am?" He smirked, letting out a slight chuckle.

"I'm Billy. Billy Hargrove."