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“We are only here,” Max said, glaring around the table, “because Dustin can’t mind his own damn business.”
“Um, no.” Dustin shot her a dirty look. “We’re here because you guys have a crush on Steve.”
Mike choked on his drink, sending incredulous looks to Max and Will. Max stared defiantly back, while Will blushed and looked down.
“So what if we do?” the red-haired girl challenged, narrowing her eyes. Next to Dustin, Lucas just frowned.
He liked Max very much, after all.
Dustin looked positively horrified. “What do you mean, so what if you do? He’s like my brother! It’s weird!”
“It’s not like we’re flirting or asking him out,” Will mumbled half-heartedly, “We just said he was, you know...attractive. That’s all.”
This was in fact a very humiliating moment for Will Byers because Dustin was a little right - it was weird. He knew that everyone else knew he liked boys, but Steve was a different case. He was kinda Dustin’s honorary brother. And Will knew he’d feel weird if a party member had a crush on Jonathan. He supposed it was the same thing.
Mike was shaking his head at Max. “Out of any high school boy, you could have a crush on -”
“Crush?” El asked softly, joining the conversation from her place next to Mike. “What is that?”
Max jumped in to answer before Mike could - she probably had a better grip on the meaning anyway. “It’s like, when you like someone a lot and - and you want to kiss them and run your fingers through their hair and be with them a lot -”
“Alright!” Lucas shouted, covering his ears overdramatically as Dustin pretended to gag. “We don’t need to hear more, Max!”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, relax, stalker. Like Will said, we just think he’s attractive. It’s not like I like you any less.”
(That made it better, definitely).
“Crush,” El said decisively, and then leaned in and whispered as though she was telling a huge secret, “I have one crush too.”
Mike grinned. Will smiled at her encouragingly.
“Nice to know you wanna run your fingers through Mike’s hair, El.”
Eleven frowned at Dustin’s words and shook her head slowly. “Not Mike’s hair. Steve’s hair.”
“What!?” all the teens shouted at the same time. The girl jumped in her seat, staring at them with wide eyes.
“S-Steve?” She was looking worried. “His hair is nice and he’s…pretty.”
Mike groaned and buried his face in his hands as Max guffawed, with Lucas clapping Mike on the back and Dustin looking as though he wanted to kill them all.
“Does anyone else have a crush on Steve?”
“Loads of people do, Dustin.”
They froze.
Steve was coming down the steps of the Wheeler basement, a grin on his face. El felt her cheeks burn, as did the other two crush wielders, but not quite as intensely.
She had just been talking about him and now he was here and he would think she was a weirdo if he knew. Or maybe he already thought she was a weirdo.
“So, why are you guys discussing my love life?” Steve ruffled Dustin’s hair over his cap. For his part, Dustin didn’t say anything, just gave all of them a challenging look.
Max rolled her eyes. She was smart enough to know that anything she felt was just because she was at an age and Steve was a cool and fairly handsome guy who hung out with them. Of course it wasn’t a legitimate crush. But that didn’t mean she wanted to ignore it. It didn’t mean that she could stop the butterflies that came whenever Steve cracked a smile at her.
But she didn’t want him to know - besides, Will and El looked downright terrified.
“We’re deciding who’s going to end up most like you in high school, like with the most crushes and whatever,” she said, shrugging, “so far, we think it’s gonna be Mike.”
Mike knew that she had only said it to annoy him, and it worked. He scowled at her as Steve’s eyes lit up in amusement.
“Really, Wheeler the Dealer?” He raised a brow, determined to call Mike anything but his first name. “You’re gonna be King Mike?”
All the kids shuddered at that title, and Mike claimed he would rather die. Will looked up, clearing his throat, and said, “Are you here to pick up Dustin?”
He wanted Steve to hang out with the rest of them too. Maybe he saw them as kids, but at least he took them seriously. And then they’d all be treated to more staring at him.
“And the rest of you little shits.” Steve laughed and ruffled his hair - dammit, did he notice Will flinching? “I’ll drop each one of you off, come on.”
Eleven was the last to get up, giving Mike a lingering hung before she followed everyone else. She knew it was okay for Max and Will to have that...crush, but she was supposed to just like Mike, and no one else. And she did. Then why did she feel so weird when she came around the older teen?
She wanted to cry. Something was wrong with her.
Steve came back in the house. “Come on, Jane, everyone’s in the car - hey,” he said, face softening when he saw her looking upset. “What’s wrong?”
El swallowed, looking down and mumbling, “I - I’m a...bad person.”
“What?” He kneeled down and looked at her - and she was only supposed to like Mike’s eyes, so why -? “Jane, you’re the coolest person I’ve ever met.”
She felt a tear slipping down her cheek and suddenly felt very stupid - she wasn’t supposed to cry right now. What was she doing?
“I’m a bad person because...because…” She took a deep breath - if she had already made a fool out of herself, then she might as well tell him. “Because I’m supposed to like Mike.” She sniffed. “But I like you. Both of you.”
Steve’s face went from one of confusion to surprised quickly, and he stared at her incredulously.
He hated her, probably.
“The one and only Jane Hopper likes me?” He tweaked her chin and said, “Then I’m a pretty lucky guy, then. It’s okay to have crushes, kid. You’re still young.”
“But Mike -”
“Mike might have crushes too. You don’t need to promise yourself to each other, you guys aren't that old.” He bit his lip. “You see what I’m saying?”
“A little.”
“A little is good enough for me. I’m not saying you and Mike don’t love each other, but that maybe it shouldn’t be love yet. Okay?”
“Okay,” she said, feeling a little better.
He hugged her and El pressed her face in his chest, taking a deep breath. Besides the one before, no tears had come out. That was good.
“Max and Will too,” she said, because if it helped her to tell him, then it would help the others too. “They like you.”
Steve’s eyes widened as though he didn’t think it was possible. He lowered his voice down to a whisper.
“Well, let’s just keep that our little secret, okay? It’s probably best to let them decide if they wanna tell me or not. Okey dokey, Jane?”
“Okey dokey, Steve.”
They intertwined pinkies (a trick Lucas had taught her) before going to the car. Dustin was on the seat next to the driver’s, Will was pressed against the window, and Max was tucked into Lucas’s arm, smiling softly.
Maybe Steve was right.
Maybe they weren’t ready for love yet.
Maybe she loved Mike, and maybe she didn’t.
She definitely loved Steve more after tonight, though, but it wasn’t as a friend, and not quite as a crush, either.
Maybe she could ask Max to explain the feeling to her later.