✓ | Infatuation . . . Steve Harrington¹

𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐘 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐃𝐀𝐘, 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

   "You didn't have to come. I could've handled the tickets on my own, sweetheart." he smiled kindly at her.

   "No way!" Olivia shook her head, "I'd never shoot down a chance to hang out with you or embarrass the boys. Plus, I got to get all dressed up today." she motioned to her lavender dress. Her hair had been tied up, a flower crown tying together the ensemble.

   "You're not too old to hang out with your dad?" he asked almost skeptically.

   "I'm pretty sure that's impossible," she giggled, "you're kind of the one who's stuck with me."

   "Well, I'm glad to be stuck with you, and I'm proud to be your dad." Scott grinned. With that, Olivia beamed at him, leaning over to give him a small hug. As she pulled away, her eyes traveled to the door where she saw none other than Dustin Henderson step into the gym, his hair defying gravity.

    "Woah, woah, woah, lady killer," she let out a small giggle.

   "Looking very snazzy tonight, sir," Scott added.

   "Thank you, Olivia, thank you, my lord." Dustin smiled, extending a small slip of paper with the words '1984 SNOW BALL' on it.

   "Try not to be too charming," Olivia winked as he began to make his way towards the dance floor.

   "I'll try my hardest." he pointed a few finger guns at her and was off. From outside, Steve watched the interaction from behind the wheel of his BMW. He'd planned on simply driving Dustin to the dance and going home, but the second he saw Olivia, a huge smile on her face, wheels started turning in his head.

   "Did he do something with his hair?" Scott's tone was one of seriousness.

   "He got help from one of the greats, dad," Olivia replied with a smile. It wasn't long before the sound of Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time began to fill the girl's ears, making her pick her head up and crane her neck to see onto the dance floor. From her viewpoint, she could see Lucas, Dustin, Will, Mike, and Max all clustered together towards the edge of the gym.

   "Are you spying on the boys?" Scott asked with a light chuckle.

   "What? Me? Spying? No!" she exclaimed, quickly moving back in her seat.

   "Whatever you say," he shook his head. Once again, Olivia turned her gaze towards the rest of the gym, only this time, she'd found the group had broken up. Lucas, Max, and Will, she presumed, were off dancing somewhere. Mike sat at one of the various circular tables, his chin in his hand. He looked more bored than anything. After another second of searching, her eyes finally landed on Dustin, her heart sinking immediately. He stood alone at the edge of the dance floor, a dejected look on his face.

   "I'll be back, dad," she mumbled absentmindedly as she stood from her seat.

   "Okay, sweetheart," he nodded. Her eyes were trained on Dustin as she stepped through the mounds of dancing preteens. She followed him as he began to shrink back into the bleachers, hiding behind a glimmering wall of streamers. A frown on her face, Olivia moved forward, not caring how odd she looked. Her grimace only deepened when she pulled back some of the streamers to find him sitting on a row of bleachers, tears in his eyes.

   "Hey," the sound of her voice made him jump, "are you on your period?"

   "What? No," Dustin chuckled lightly at her words, attempting to wipe away a few stray tears.