Jailbird || Stranger Things

five ➵ low expectations

The next sound was a resounding smack to his jacket from his girlfriend, who still let out giggles. The bell rang as the door closed behind the newest customer, and even Steve and Nancy looked up. A silence fell along the store, one that had followed the same girl since she first popped up.

"You attached to your fingers?" the girl asked, completely disregarding the eerie quiet that was only filled with the low and slightly muffled sounds of Bob Seger.

Tommy took a moment to think, before he let out an incredulous laugh, Carol soon joining. "What?"

"I think your girlfriend probably likes having your fingers attached to your hands. So unless you want me to attach them to your own ass, I recommend not talking about mine," Teresa flashed them a smile, before she took a smooth step around them, and left the couple behind.

The store stayed quiet, but her hands had already raised to put her headphones back on, yellow foam standing out against the dark blue of her cap and the brown of her hair. Tommy and Carol took another moment before they called back something unnecessary, but the girl was already deep into the easy watch section of the films. Pretty soon, the bell above them rang again as they left.

Nancy in particular had let out a breath of relief as they disappeared into the parking lot. She wasn't really sure how Steve ever became friends with those two, and that knowledge had made her miss Jonathan's company often. But mostly, she enjoyed Steve as a distraction. He was doing his best to make up for his mistakes in November, and she couldn't deny he was doing a good job. Better than she'd expected.

"God, I'm so sorry!" Amidst her thoughts, Nancy had completely missed her surroundings.

Her exclamation got the attention of Steve, who immediately got down on the floor, picking up the few tapes the two girls had knocked from the shelf. He spotted a bandaid covered hand reaching for ET right in front of him, and he pushed his hair back, following the arm all the way up to the pair of blue eyes that had held his attention a few days ago. He apologised with Nancy again, getting a small chuckle from Teresa in response.

"Totally my fault, don't worry," she smiled, her voice much more light now that he wasn't chewing out Tommy Hagan for his roving eyes.

"I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, I'm so sorry," Nancy apologised again, the three of them standing up with the knocked off tapes in their hands, trying to stack the right ones back on the shelves in a bit of an awkward shuffle.

"Really, it's okay. I should be apologising," Teresa smile, managing to place the top row back in order. "You guys in one piece?"

"Yeah, no harm," Steve spoke, taking Nancy's hand to calm her down. He almost reflexively put on the same King Steve smile he'd perfected in public, but holding Nance's hand made him pause.

"Great," Teresa gave them a polite smile, moving to pass by the couple.

"Hey, you're—" he called, Nancy giving his hand a squeeze to do so. "You're Teresa, right? Hopper?" he finally asked, attempting not to head butt the tape in his hands for the stupid question.

"That's me," she chuckled, turning back to them both. "Reese. You're uh— You guys are Nancy and Steve, right? Jonathan's friends?"

"Jonathan—"

"Yeah," Nancy replied, her smile widening at the idea that they already had something in common. "You know Jonathan?"

Reese's eyebrow quirked, a small smile blooming across her face as she nodded. "Yeah, I used to be watched by his parents when I was a kid."

"Oh, right, yeah, Mrs Byers," Nancy smiled.

"He mentioned you guys were helpful with his brother. Mentioned you guys by name, and Will didn't really shut up about Mike while I was there," Reese added, the couple freezing a little at the knowledge of how Jonathan had to hide the events of November. Just their immediate reaction made Teresa nod, confirming her thoughts that the teens were much more involved than Jim had explained.