WE'RE NOT GETTING LAID !
☀︎
THE WALK TO STEVE HARRINGTONS PARTY WAS UNEVENTFUL, ONLY MAKING ALEX WISH SHE HAD GONE WITH HER BROTHER TO MIKES. Nothing in her wanted to listen to Nancy talk about Steve and what could possibly happen at this party. It didn't even feel like a party to Alex, it was just a few friends and Steve's house, it's not like it was something very special.
Alex walked further behind Nancy and Barb as they talked amongst one another. She felt she had no place in the conversation. Moments like this, she wished there was another girl that would join their group that was more like her. That way she had someone to talk to as well. That wasn't the case, so Alex had to amuse herself on the walk. With each step, Alex tried to crunch as many leaves as possible, finding that her sense of entertainment.
As they had approached the house, Alex had made quick work to catch up. Hesitantly, Nancy looked at the two girls; a part of her ready to head back for a sleepover instead. Then all she thought of was all the hurtful things Tommy would say if she had been a no-show. Turning back, she reached out and pressed her finger to the doorbell.
It hadn't taken long for Steve to race towards the door. The beginning of the evening had consisted of him listening to Tommy run his mouth, often bashing the three coming, and for him, it was tiresome to listen to. Quickly coming to a halt before the door, he fixed his hair once again before throwing it open with a grin.
"Hello ladies," Steve's eyes darted to each girl, smiling like it was the most glorious day of his life. His eyes lingered on Alex a little longer than the other two, upset that she already looked bored with a frown on her face.
Holding the door open wider, he had motioned for all of them to come in. Heading in first, Nancy had felt her nerves spike until Steve quickly leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on her head as she passed by. Barb had followed after, already feeling Nancy had been squealing in her mind.
Before Alex could follow in after them, Steve slammed his hand on the opposite of the door, completely blocking her way. "I said hello, ladies. Don't think you greeted me yet. Can't let you in until you do."
Alex had chosen to duck under his arm and allow herself in before she had completely frozen outside. Pulling her hands out of her pocket, she rubbed her hands together as she came walking in. "How's the party so far?" she asked as he appeared beside her.
"Let's see... You're here so, yeah. The party just started." A thought had struck him as he snapped his fingers. Before she could question his strange behavior, he placed his hands over her eyes as he stood behind her. "There's something I have to show you." Guiding her towards the kitchen, he had passed over Nancy and Barb that glanced at one another in confusion.
As he stood her before the fridge, he slowly pulled his hands away, "Ta-da," he whispered, waiting for her reaction.
The first thing she had seen was the flyer for Will pinned to his fridge. It had been the only thing on there that told her he had taken everything off to be sure everyone had seen it. Turning over to him all smiley and giddy, she couldn't help but feel the corners of her lips twitch up. "Thanks."
"You never doubted me," he declared. Spinning around to Nancy and Barb slowly making their way in, he felt he should now be a good host. "We're hanging out by the pool. Can I get you ladies a drink?"
"We're good," Barb pipped up, earning a look of annoyance from Nancy in return. It hadn't helped that Steve had already turned back to Alex, stating he had already known what she would like.
While Steve had dug in the fridge for drinks, Alex had come up to the girls once again. "Come on, I'll show you outside." Grabbing Barb's arm, Alex began to pull her off Nancy's side as she looked at Nancy. "Or you can help Steve with the drinks, Nance."
Instantly, Nancy had felt grateful that Alex was smart enough to know that Barb may have begun to cling too much. Now she felt free with the two heading out towards the back and hearing the sounds of Carol and Tommy only out there.
"Henderson!" Tommy yelled, throwing his arm around her, pulling her roughly closer to him. "Didn't think you'd show. Thought you'd be with Byers." As he spoke, he slowly brought her closer to the pool and she could see where his plan had been going. Nudging him hard in the side, she got him to release her before making her way back towards Barb.
With raised brows, Barb had already given the clear hint she was more than ready to leave and if Tommy had even looked her way, she'd grab her keys and go. Then Steve and Nancy came out, distracting Tommy with a new victim.
As Tommy began to taunt Nancy, Steve took a seat beside Alex. Digging into his pocket, he tossed over his pack of cigarettes for her to take and soon a lighter. As she had carefully lit it, she couldn't help but notice Steve's eyes on her. The moment she had turned over to him, he flashed a quick smile before reaching down beside him for a beer. Holding it out for her, he pretended as if he had been more interested in Carol punching Tommy repeatedly on the chest for trying to throw her in.
"So," Nancy spoke up, looking at the three she cared to be around. Her amusement was running short and Steve hadn't glanced much her way since they had come out.
Shooting up from his spot, an idea had popped into his head, only it hadn't had much to do with Nancy. "Watch this, Henderson. Give you another reason to forgive me." Shotgunning his beer, he thought he had looked pretty impressive even if she had seen this more than enough. When he had finished, he tossed the can right over his shoulder with a triumphant grin.
"Oh, wow. I'm very impressed and feel like I have no choice but to forgive you," she remarked sarcastically with a laugh.
"Yeah, well Nance loved it, right?" he asked, turning back over to Nancy.
"You're a cliché," she laughed, glad that Steve was finally focusing on her again.
"Okay, party girl. Why don't you just, uh, show how it's done then?" Steve challenged, holding out a beer for Nancy to take. Catching sight of Alex shooting her a thumbs up, Nancy felt more than confident to do this in front of them.
This had bothered Barb to see her doing something so out of character. Making her way over to Alex, Barb slid her chair closer as she sat on her hands to keep them warm. "Is it always like this?"
"You mean incredibly boring? Then yes," Alex whispered. Both girls giggled silently with one another as they discussed how Tommy falling into the pool would've made it much more entertaining. However, when Nancy had finished off her drink and saw that her two friends had been talking and laughing amongst each other, she felt a pang of jealousy.
"Barb, why don't you try?" Nancy called out loudly. Her question had the two put their conversation on hold as they turned over to Nancy dropping her empty can.
"What? No. No, I don't want to. Thanks," she said brushing off Nancy's offer.
"Come on!" she said, holding the beer even closer. Taking a seat on Alex's lap, Nancy wiggled the beer before Barb's eyes. This had caused the others to jump in with Nancy, encouraging Barb to join in with them.
"Come on, guys. Lay off. She said she didn't want to," Alex chimed in. Seeing that her words were drowned out by their pressure, she turned over to Barb in hopes of getting through to her. "Barb, you don't have to do it."
"Just give it a shot," Nancy said, pushing the beer into Barb's hands. The moment her fingers had wrapped around the can, Nancy's smile grew as she looked at Alex but she had not given her the same excitement. Smile dropping, she stood up, pulling Barb up out of her seat to shotgun the beer just as she had.
Barb had been hesitant to do what they had asked. Her hands were already shaking from the cold, but now with the added pressure, her nerves had spiked. She struggled for a few with all the watchful eyes until she slipped and cut open her hand.
"Gnarly!" Tommy said in awe.
"More like rude," Alex shot Tommy a warning glare, passing over her cigarette and beer over to Steve. Standing up, she made her way over to Barb and gently grabbed her arm to lead her inside.
Walking inside, she had quickly shut the door behind her, surprised that Nancy had not followed along. With a heavy sigh, she guided Barb passed the kitchen and into the bathrooms helping her wash her hand clean.
"I should've listened to you," Barb said quietly, tears forming in her eyes.
"Don't worry about it," she whispered, flashing Barb a reassuring smile. "They're assholes. It's not like we want Tommy H. to call us cool." Alex had pretended to gag at the thought, finally managing to get Barb to smile in the slightest bit. "I'm gonna go grab something to wrap it up. Just wait here."
Heading out of the bathroom, Alex had run right into Steve standing outside the door dripping wet but with a concerned look. "Is she okay?"
Moving past him, Alex had headed back to the kitchen with a shrug. "Her hand will probably be fine but her hatred for you definitely isn't going away anytime soon."
"Wait, she hates me?"
"Does she really have a reason not to?"
Steve's jaw clenched as he realized he was not the most likable person to everyone as he had thought. "I'm sorry," he breathed out.
"Tommy throw you in the pool?" Her question had taken him by surprise as she walked into his kitchen. Looking down at his soaking wet clothes, he was reminded of why he came inside in the first place. "Jumped in actually. I came in for towels." Still unable to do the task he was coming in to do, he made his way around Alex and grab bandages for her. Passing them over, he looked her over carefully. "I said I'm sorry."
"You say that a lot." Taking the bandages from his hands, she headed back to the bathroom without another word to help Barb out. The last thing that Barb had needed was for another person to exclude her for Steve Harrington.
Shutting the door quickly behind her, Alex flashed Barb a fake smile and motioned for her hand. Wrapping it up, she listened as Barb had sadly talked about how betrayed she had felt by Nancy. She had been her best friend, after all, even Alex wasn't as close to Barb as her and she had still been there. Alex had wanted to take this as a compliment but had felt awful that Nancy had made her choice so poorly when Barb had only come for her.
"They're pushing each other in the pool. Maybe we just ditch this hell hole." Extending a hand out, she waited for Barb to place it into hers so they could head back out together.
Coming out of the bathroom, both Barb and Alex had started to head back towards the back door when they heard voices coming from elsewhere. Following them, they just caught Nancy wrapped in a towel following Steve upstairs.
"Nance" Barb whispered, managing to get her to stop halfway up the steps. "Where are you going?"
"Nowhere," she stated quickly. "Just... upstairs. To change." Pulling open the towel, she showed off her wet clothes. "I fell in the pool," she chuckled. Coming back down the stairs, Steve stopped beside Nancy to see what had been the holdup. His eyes had met Alex's eyes for a moment until she had turned her attention back to her friend but he had seen the disappointment and hurt spread across her face in an instant.
"Why don't you guys go ahead and go home. Have a sleepover, I really won't mind. I'll just... I'll get a ride or something," Nancy suggested. The pact she had made with her friends seemed to be in the back of her mind and even if she remembered, she wasn't planning on following along with them.
"Guardians," Alex whispered.
"Alex, I'm fine," she shot back quietly. "Just go ahead and go home, okay? You two didn't even want to come anyways."
Seeing as Alex and Barb had looked at one another in disappointment, Steve laid a hand on Nancy's shoulder as he made his way around her. Holding onto the towel around his neck, he stopped at the last step, suddenly feeling nervous. "Hey, you don't have to go." Steve paused as he waited for her response. He told himself if Alex asked him to stay downstairs, he would've.
Instead, she shrugged. "Barb and I aren't going to get laid so why should we be forced to listen to it?"
"Come on, Steve," Nancy whispered, grabbing onto his hand to lead him back up. Still looking at Alex, Steve had slowly backed up the stairs, waiting for her to say anything else. When she had tapped Barb on the arm for her to follow back to the kitchen, he saw no point in waiting for something that would never happen. Completely turned around, he rushed up the stairs with Nancy.