Work Text:
AUGUST 1985
“Jesus Christ it’s hot out here” you said, stepping out of the newly opened record shop in Hawkins. You held one hand up, sheltering your eyes from the sun, despite having sunglasses on. Your boyfriend, Steve, followed behind you, one arm on the door, holding it open for Robin, the other on his hip.
“Yeah, no kidding” he chuckled at the end of his sentence, but it just sounded like he was exhaling. You wiped a bead of sweat away from your forehead, moving your hand away from your face to fan yourself with your top.
There hadn’t been any air-con in the shop, and there obviously wasn’t any out here either. You’d lived in Hawkins your whole life and it had never reached this temperature. It was a heat that challenged even the hottest deserts.
“It’s like super hot, can we please just go somewhere with air con, I will turn into sludge if we stand here even a second longer” Robin drawled, already waking towards Steve’s car. You followed her, laughing as she threw her head back and dramatically sighed.
“I have an idea.” Steve said from behind both of you. Your heads turned in sync, facing him with an expectant look on both your faces. “We could go to lovers lake, hang out there, swim y’know. It’d be cool”
“Ugh please” Robin said, fully turning to face him, only then did you notice how covered in sweat she was. Steve pulled out his car keys from his back pocket and twirled them around his finger as he strode past you both.
He seemed unbothered by the heat, he wasn’t slouched like either you or Robin, but the patches of sweat that trailed down the front and back of his t-shirt displayed otherwise. He unlocked his car and got in the driver’s seat.
You and Robin started walking again, faster this time, for the car had an AC, something you both desperately needed. You opened the passenger door, but as Robin reached for the back door Steve spoke up, leaning towards you slightly so you could see his face from where you were standing. “Hey, who said your sweaty asses could sit in my car? You’re gonna damage the leather”
You knew he was joking but you couldn’t help but roll your eyes. Robin peered at him, head sticking through the door you had opened, “Shut up dingus, you’re sweating too”. She opened her door and climbed in the backseat, slamming the door behind her.
“Careful!” He turned, actually concerned for his car this time. You sat down in your seat, closing the door carefully to avoid behind scolded by Steve. You could hear them both bickering about the door, but you didn’t care, the AC was blasting in your face and the radio was playing some trashy pop song.
Steve pulled up outside your house, and you reluctantly got out. The ground was so sticky with heat, you swore the bottom of your sandals were sticking to the sidewalk. You reached your front door, and you heard Robin shout from the car, “Hurry up asshole”
“Shut up” you shouted back, opening the door. The inside of your house was cool, and you slipped off your sandals as you walked across the hardwood floor, the panels cooling your feet down. You jogged up the stairs, trying to go as quick as possible so you didn’t keep Steve and Robin waiting.
You dug out your favourite bikini. It was black, nothing special, but you loved it nonetheless. You undressed, changing your underwear for the swim suit, and pulling your shorts on again. It hadn’t taken you long to get ready, so you took some time to fix your hair, splash your face with water and take some drinks out of the refrigerator.
You slipped your sandals back on with one hand, hopping as you did so, sunglasses on the top of your head, three drinks in your other hand, towel draped across your arm, and an unchewed piece of gum between your teeth.
You stood up straight the opened the door, locking it behind you. You walked at a brisk pace back to the car, the cold drinks making your hand burn slightly. The mint gum was so fresh it almost made you gag, filling your mouth with an overwhelming spearmint taste.
Once you were sat in the car, you leant backwards and put your towel down and the three drinks on top. You knew Steve would get mad if eve a single drop of condensation got on the seat.
“Took you long enough” Robin said, but you could tell she didn’t care that much. “Ignore her. You look beautiful by the way” Steve said, and you turned to push his arm. Robin didn’t even try to bite back the loud laugh that escaped her. “What? I can’t complement my girlfriend anymore?”
He threw his hands up, genuinely wanting an answer, but both of you started laughing. “What? What’s so funny?” He looked between the both of you, before giving up and driving away from the sidewalk.
“Thank you” you said, after you stopped laughing. You heard Robin whisper “gross” from the backseat, but you chose to ignore her. “I meant it y’know” he said, looking at you for a second, before turning back to face the road.
Steve stopped at Robin’s house, and his own after that. Robin had bullied him into changing his trunks, and by the time you actually arrived at lover’s lake, the drinks were almost lukewarm.
You stood on a bank, the sunlight shining through the trees, casting moving shadows across your face. It was midday, and the day was almost at its hottest, if it could get any hotter that is. Your sandals were next to you, you had discarded them in favour of dipping your feet in the water.
You put down your towel and the drinks in the shade, before stepping out of your shorts. Steve moved to stand beside you, hand shielding his face from the sun. You didn’t say anything to each other, just stood looking towards the lake
The sunlight hitting it made it look far less murky than usual. You were so transfixed that you barely noticed Steve moving to push you into the water. You ran away, out onto the pier. He just stared at you, stupidly innocently.
He moved then, walking quickly towards you, probably to push or even throw you in the water. “No!” You yelled, laughing as you ran further. You reached the end, sweat running down the back the of your thigh and onto the back of your knee which made you wince in disgust.
“I’m not going to push you in!” He said, defensively, hands out in surrender, expression serious.
“Liar” you said, accusingly
“I would never lie to y-“ Robin shoved him hard causing him to hit the water with a loud splash.
You laughed, keeling over with the sheer force of it. His head surfaced and he was laughing too. Robin made a move towards you but you turned and dived into to water before she could push you.
It was so nice in the water, cold yes, but so nice. You pushed your way up to the surface, eyes squeezed shut. You opened them again when you resurfaced. Robin was in the water somewhere, white bubbles formed where you guessed she had jumped in.
You swam over to Steve, avoiding Robin as she came up to the surface. None of you could touch the ground, you were all far too deep into the water to do so. You draped one arm around him, weighing him down as he was treading the water.
You felt his arm wrap around your waist, fingers running up and down your abdomen. You shivered, and not from the cold water.
You all sat side by side on the pier. Your fingers were laced with Steve’s, and you both listened as Robin was talking about returning to school soon. You and Steve had left school, but listened anyway, providing advice for senior year, not that you had much.
“Robin, Robin, sorry” you said, cutting her off, “does anyone want more drinks?” You held up the empty drinks can you were holding. “Yes please, it’s still so hot out here. I think I’ve sweat so much I can’t physically sweat anymore and I can only sit in agony” Robin said, passing you her empty can
“You’re overreacting, it’s not that hot” Steve said to Robin as you stood up
“Yes it is, it’s 2pm it doesn’t get hotter than-“
“Go back in the water then”
“Shut up dingus”
You walked down the pier, wincing and seething through your teeth as the skin on the soles of your feet practically melted off due to how hot the wood was. Once you reached the bank again, you pulled your shorts on over your bikini bottoms, and slipped your sandals on.
Steve’s car keys were resting on his shirt, that he had long since abandoned, warm to the touch from the sunlight that was hitting them. You shoved them in your back pocket and made your way through the forest and to Steve’s car.
It was cool in the woods, sunlight only occasionally passing through the leaves. The ground became less green and dustier as you reached the road. Steve’s car was there, parked ever so meticulously on the side of the road. You found it stupid how much he cared about his car.
It was like a sauna inside, and you were only halfway through the door. The leather seats were molten, burning your legs. You sucked it up though, and put the AC on full blast, trying not to damage anything. You sat with the door beside you open for a while hoping to cool down the car.
His car was so clean that it actually annoyed you. There was nothing hanging from the rearview mirror, no receipts, no random candies or gum, nothing but a ten dollar note in a cup holder. You figured there must be something else in his car somewhere.
You pulled down the visor in front of you, and there was a photo wedged between it and the roof. You pulled it down gently, so you could look at it. It was a picture of him and you, taken in some busted up Photo Booth earlier this summer. Your heart swelled, as a smile slowly creeped across your face.
You remembered the booth was so cramped that you had to press your faces together so you could both get in the picture, how he’d made some stupid joke and you had laughed right as the first photo was taken, and that he kissed you for the final one. This picture had been cut down to just the first one and you figured the other three must be at his house.
You knew it was stupid getting so sappy and sentimental over this picture, but Steve meant the world to you, and you meant more than that to him. You’d both been through so much over the past few years together, you witnessed his fall from grace, the upside down, the mind flayer, demodogs, the Russians.
You put the picture back, something stirring inside your stomach. The feeling had been there before, you were sure of it, but only now was it resurfacing. Only now did you realise how irrevocably in love with him you truly were.
“Drinks, drinks, drinks” you muttered to yourself as you looked for the brand of drinks you had brought earlier. You could stay stood there forever, with the fridge air blasting into your face. You found a pack of twelve drinks at the very bottom, and hauled it out. You slammed the door behind you using your foot, carrying the drink case with two hands. You wandered through the isles, occasionally stopping to throw a bag of chips on top of the case.
The box hit the counter with a loud slam, the cashier looking mildly unimpressed at the items you had placed down. “You feeding an orphanage or what?” he said, moving to start scanning the items. You laughed awkwardly not really knowing what to say.
“That’s $8.73” the cashier said, facing you slowly, still speaking with a dull, uninterested voice. You handed him a $10 note from your wallet and began to carry everything back to the car. You couldn’t be bothered to wait for change, already by the door. A nearby patron opened the door for you and you thanked them
The drinks weighed the car down significantly, making it bounce when you put them in the trunk. You shoved the bags of chips in as well, closing the trunk.
The drive back was quick, lover’s lake wasn’t that far really. The heat made it feel longer though. Even the cold air blasting wasn’t enough to keep the heat out anymore. You eventually reached the spot where Steve had parked the car earlier. You hadn’t parked it as neat as he had, and you got the feeling he would comment on that later.
You carried the drinks and snacks back to the pier, sweating from every place imaginable. It was down your neck, the backs of your legs, your forehead, hands — even through they were holding onto a cool box of drinks.
When you reached the pier no one was there. No Steve. No Robin. “Guys?” You said, slipping off your sandals, putting the drinks down in the shade after. “Hello?” You called out, kicking off your shorts hoping to cool down slightly.
You heard something in the trees move. The sound wasn’t big enough to be a human presumably— or a Demogorgon for that matter. It could have been a fox or a bird or a cat. Something moved in another direction.
You swallowed, really hoping it wasn’t a Demodog, you couldn’t go through that again. Perhaps they had already got to Steve and Robin, and stayed around incase someone else came along.
You stumbled back onto the pier, turning around briefly to see if they were in the lake. You didn’t get to fully turn back around as something lunged at you, pushing you towards the lake. You instinctively squeezed your eyes shut as you fell back, a scream tearing from your throat.
The water cut you off from screaming, filling your airways. You pushed up towards the surface, coughing as spluttering, opening your eyes to see Robin and Steve stood on the pier. You saw genuine regret in Steve’s eyes as you continued coughing.
You were laughing too, well trying to, it was pretty funny how you screamed. If it weren’t for the fact you were actually choking you would be crying of laugher. You heard Steve say your name, and his hand between your shoulder blades.
You tried to say ‘I’m fine’ but all you could do was keep coughing. Steve slammed his hand hard onto your back, and you spluttered again. You coughed up water and inhaled sharply. Once you stopped coughing, you subconsciously brought your hand to your neck.
You started laughing, remembering the way you screamed. Steve’s hand moved to your shoulder, “sorry, did I hurt you? Are you alright?” He turned you around. The water was only shallow and you were both touching the ground, the water going up to both your chests.
“Oh, you’re laughing,” he said quietly, “Jesus of course you’re laughing” he pulled his hand away crossing his arms. Robin slipped off the pier from where she was sat, wading over to the both of you.
“You’re both assholes y’know that right? You scared the shit out of me” you stopped laughing, pushing Robin lightly in the arm
“At least we don’t scream like a pubescent boy” Robin quipped, pushing you back.
“Can you get me a drink at least, to make up for it? My throat is killing me” You smiled sweetly at Robin and she rolled her eyes, walking back out the water
“It was her idea not mine” Steve said, watching her as she walked away.
“I figured” you responded, turning to look at him
“I’m sorry, are you sure you’re alright?” he brought a hand to your cheek
“Stop apologising I’m fine” you had to look away. Those stupid eyes of his. Those stupid puppy dog eyes.
“You’re sure?” He asked
“Yes I’m sure” you turned back and kissed him, one hand holding his cheek too. He placed his other hand on your lower back, and you leant back into his touch.
“You guys are gross” Robin shouted from the pier, three drinks in her hand. You pulled away from Steve as you laughed, moving back to the pier to sit beside Robin. Steve’s eyes stayed on you, with an unreadable expression