13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Steve met Jessica at her locker after school. He'd taken to doing that since they'd gotten together, but he'd have met her there that day even if it hadn't been part of their routine. Tommy hadn't been sent home, and Steve didn't want Jessica to be caught alone.

Jonathan was there as well, his locker next to Jessica's, but they were more focused on getting their things in their backpacks than they were talking to each other.

Steve wouldn't exactly call Jonathan a friend, but they talked now without either having a problem with it. They knew that if one of those things ever came back around they had each other's back.

Jessica's usual reaction when they met at her locker was a wide smile and a quick kiss, but this time he received neither. In fact, her eyes held concern and a little bit of sadness. He wondered if anything else had happened since the fight earlier.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

He reached for her and was relieved when she allowed him to embrace her. It wasn't him that was bothering her then.

"We need to talk when we get to the car," she said.

"Okay. If this is about earlier –"

"It is," she admitted. "But I'm not mad or – something's just been bugging me, that's all."

"O . . . kay."

She stepped away, grabbed her bag, and put it on her shoulders before taking his hand in hers. He followed her out to her car. He always walked with her when he didn't have basketball practice – even then he walked her out if they had time before having to go back inside.

"Okay, so what's wrong?"

She nodded at the car before getting in. She tossed her bag in the back. When he got in, he placed his own bag on the floor in front of his seat since he'd have to get out to go to his own car.

"Jess?"

"Do I make you do things you don't want to do?"

"What?"

"Tommy, what he said about it being my fault that –"

"What? No. I told him it's not your fault, and it's not. It's his. It's not your fault that it took me so long to see what a douchebag he is."

"And you don't do things just because I ask you?"

"No."

"And I'm not . . . frigid?"

This got an even more shocked, "What? You do realize you're probably the most caring person I've ever met? Right?"

That earned him a small smile, at least, but it didn't last long.

"I don't think that was the type of frigid he meant, Steve. I think he meant something like I'm the type whose legs are tied together at the knees."

Steve felt a sudden fury fill him, not at her but at the effect Tommy's words were having on her.

"That is none of his business. It's no one's but yours."

He grabbed her hand and rubbed the back of it with his thumb.

"Besides . . . I'm sure you'll let me untie them when you're ready."

Jessica stared at him for a few seconds, unblinking, and he watched as her face and neck turned a lovely shade of pink.

Steve!" she exclaimed and pulled her hand away only to shove him playfully, so his back hit the door.

He couldn't help but laugh. Her reaction had been priceless.

"I'm kidding. Sort of. Anyway, we've only been together a few weeks. Okay? And I know with the other girls I . . . but this is different, you're different. You're my best friend and my girlfriend, and tonight is our first actual date, and you do not have to worry about being frigid."

As he'd continued talking Jessica had begun to relax further, so much so that she leaned in for a kiss after he was done.

"Thanks for the pep talk," she said. "See you at six."

Once Jessica got home it hit her that she had no clue what she was going to wear that night. She didn't even know where they were going exactly, just that they were going out to eat.

She figured it wasn't going to be anything fancy, or at least she hoped not, so she kept that in mind when choosing her outfit: a tight, black, long-sleeved shirt, an electric blue skirt that reached half-way down her thighs, and black leggings. She'd have gone without if it hadn't been winter, but it was and she didn't want to freeze her legs off.

She completed the look with black ankle boots. They made her two inches taller.

She lay her choices flat on her bed before going to shower, during which she used her best smelling shampoo and soap. She spent an extra few minutes on her hair than she normally did only because she tried to flip it to the side. It didn't want to work right, but it still looked okay. She tamed it to soft waves rather than unruly curls.

It still didn't have the same poof as Steve's did, and she didn't know how he did it.

All in all, she really liked how she'd fixed herself up, especially the skirt and the boots, and she'd gone very light on the makeup. Pink lip gloss and gray shimmering eye shadow.

She hoped Steve liked it.

She remembered telling Nancy that she couldn't understand anyone caring about what someone else thought about their clothes, and she hadn't been lying. Until that night she hadn't cared; she'd never dressed for anyone before. She had been on dates before, but had never seriously dated anyone, and hadn't really cared about the clothes she'd worn when with those guys.

They hadn't been Steve and they hadn't been able to get more than a couple dates out of her. Tommy may have been talking about that too, when he'd made the 'frigid' comment. He couldn't have believed she'd be okay with him just grabbing her the night before.

Either way, it was none of Tommy's business. Steve had been right about that.

At the Harrington residence Steve was also at the tail-end of getting ready. He had on jeans and one of his normal polo shirts and his Adidas. All he had left to do was his hair.

From the time he'd gotten home he'd been thinking about the conversation he'd had with Jessica. He remembered the fight he'd had with Jonathan about two months ago and he had asked her if she thought he should stop just because she'd asked him to. She'd said yes.

The truth was there wasn't a lot he wouldn't do if she asked, but it wasn't because she asked. It was because he cared about her.

Steve knew this was Jessica's first real date. She'd gone to dinner with a few guys before, had danced with multiple guys at the parties they'd gone to, but none of them had ever been invited to her house, had never had dinner with her family, had definitely never slept in her bed.

She'd never been with anyone. Steve would have heard about it if she had. She would've told him, he was sure of it.

Carol and Tommy had always said things about her not getting with the guys she danced with – most girls did leave a party with whoever they chose to have fun with that night, but Jessica never did, even if she'd genuinely seemed to like whoever the guy was. She'd never gone off alone with the guy either.

Steve had always kept an eye on her too, when they'd gone out, made sure no one touched her drink when she took off to dance with someone. Not that he thought anybody would slip her anything, but one couldn't be too careful.

The fact that she'd never gone home with anyone had confused Tommy and Carol. They hadn't known what she'd been waiting for. Steve hadn't cared what she'd been waiting for. He was just glad she had.

Steve arrived at the Henderson household a little before six so he could go in and say hi to Jessica's mom and to Dustin. He knocked and went on in. Ms. Henderson was in front of the TV in the living room, Dustin on the floor with a text book and paper spread out in front of him. The second half of Jaws was playing on the screen.

"Hi, Steve," Ms. Henderson greeted him warmly.

"Hey, Ms. Henderson. Uh, did Jess tell you we're going out to dinner?"

"No, she didn't, but she's been up in her room getting ready for the past hour, so I figured something was going on."

"Mom!" Jessica shouted from upstairs. "He wasn't supposed to know that!"

Dustin snorted, ducking his head, and Steve grinned. She'd put in an effort to look nice that night. She wouldn't have wanted him to know that.

When Jessica started down the stairs, Steve moved to stand at the bottom to meet her there. The shirt she had chosen hugged her in all the right places, and the blue skirt was set off perfectly against the black leggings.

"You look beautiful," he said as she reached him. He sought out her hand and she slid her fingers between his, squeezing gently.

"Thank you," she said and pecked him on the cheek. Then, "I was going to tell you, Mom. Steve's a little early."

"Well, I thought I'd say hi to your mom and Dustin." He frowned a little. "Would you rather I had just honked?"

"No." Jessica squeezed his hand again. "You did it right."

Steve wasn't used to knowing either of the parents of the girls he hung around, and he had actually usually just honked the horn to announce his presence and waited in the car for the girl to come out. But this was Jessica and he knew her family. It was only polite to come in.

"So . . . where are you going to dinner?" Ms. Henderson said.

"Um . . . not sure yet. I wanted to go somewhere outside of Hawkins," Jessica admitted.

"Okay. You still have to be back by ten."

"She'll be home on time," Steve promised, grabbing Jessica's jacket from the coat rack by the front door and helping her put it on.

They ended up taking's Steve's car. He opened the door for her so she could get in the passenger seat and she grinned at him. He dipped his head to kiss her on the lips quickly before shutting the door and going around to get in the driver's seat.

Once inside the car he said, "I meant what I said. You look beautiful."

This time she ducked her head and Steve noticed as her cheeks became tinged with pink. Steve loved that she only ever blushed for him.

"I would tell you that you look nice," she said, "but you look nice all the time."

"Aw," he teased, to which she told him to shut up.

"So . . . where do you want to go?" he asked her.

"I dunno. Just pick a direction and drive. I know I want ice cream for dessert, though."

"You realize it's about twenty degrees outside?"

"Well, it won't be twenty degrees in the restaurant! And I want ice cream."

"Okay, okay." Steve grinned. "Ice cream it is."

Steve did pick a random direction – south – and turned the radio on and up. "Uptown Girl" by Billy Joel was on, and Jessica began hopping around in her seat.

And when she's walkingShe's looking so fi-i-ineAnd when she's talkingShe'll say that she's mi-i-ine

They both sang along, Jessica moving her head side-to-side along with the beat. Neither of them tried to sing on-key. They were just messing around, having fun.

"So, any requests other than ice cream?" he asked.

"Uh . . . good French fries?" She shrugged. "Chicken tenders? I'm not really in the mood for a burger."

They continued driving for about twenty minutes, passing by a Skate Land and a movie theater on the way. They picked a place and Steve pulled in. They walked in hand-in-hand and waited for someone to show them to a table, where they sat across from each other.

"Your server will be right with you."

Two menus were placed on the table, one in front of each of them, before the hostess walked away. Steve and Jessica opened the menus at the same time, but Steve stopped on the first page, where the appetizers were listed.

"They have cheese sticks with marinara sauce," he said, knowing cheese was a weakness of hers.

"I'm already getting chicken and fries . . . and ice cream."

"So. You didn't eat much for lunch. You can go all out for dinner, yeah?"

"You'll share them?"

"Absolutely."

A woman in a dark green uniform headed towards them and, when she reached them, told them her name was Tina and she would be their waitress.

"What can I get y'all to drink?"

"Coke for me," Steve said.

"Just water for me," Jessica said. "And an order of the cheese sticks to start."

"Sure thing, Sweetie."

They ordered their meals too, Jessica sticking with her choice of chicken and fries, Steve choosing a burger and fries.

Once the cheese sticks arrived Jessica immediately grabbed one. Steve knew she loved when the cheese was hot and stringy and fresh. That was when they were best.

Steve smiled as Jessica closed her eyes in satisfaction.

"See, aren't you glad we got them?"

"Yeah, yeah."

Before their meals arrived, music began playing – familiar pop music – and Jessica tapped her foot along with the beat.

"Hey, Jess? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Did Tommy scare you last night?"

Jessica froze for a second and then shrugged. "Maybe at first, but not really. I don't really feel as if he'd actually hurt me for real."

"I don't think so either," Steve agreed. "Still . . . be careful. Okay?"

She nodded before continuing to enjoy her cheese sticks.

Aside from the brief mention of Tommy during dinner he wasn't mentioned again. Steve and Jessica both seemed to understand they needed a night full of positive energy to get rid of all the negative they were smothered by in Hawkins. That's why when they were on the way back home Jessica didn't understand why Steve pulled into the parking lot of the skating place they'd passed by earlier.

"What're we doing here?"

"We're gonna skate," Steve said and grinned.

"But, Steve . . . you know I can't skate."

She did not share in his enthusiasm. She really couldn't skate. She'd been skating exactly twice in her life. The first time she hadn't left the carpet to get in the rink; the second time she had, and had immediately fallen on her butt. She'd also sprained her wrist when she'd caught herself. She'd taken that as a sign that she should just stop trying to skate.

"I do know you can't skate."

He still seemed way too happy with himself.

"Then why are we here?"

"Because it gives me a legitimate reason to not let you go for the next hour."

Jessica felt herself smile at that even though she felt a small amount of trepidation go through her.

"Smooth," she admitted.

"So . . . it's okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah. But I actually did hurt myself the last time I went skating, Steve."

"I won't let you get hurt," he said. "Like I said, I won't let you go."

"Okay."

Once inside, Steve paid for the skates both of them would be using and they changed into them, leaving their shoes in a cubby hole the place had.

The lights above the rink flashed different colors, but Jessica noticed the red and blue the most. It was a little disorienting at first, the changing colors, and it made her hesitate at the edge of the carpeted area in front of the rink.

Music played loudly enough that Steve had to almost yell to be heard when he asked if she was okay. He'd gracefully stepped off of the carpet and onto the slick rink only to turn around and reach out both hands for her to grab onto, which she did. She still hesitated to move. She was afraid she would fall flat on her bottom if she took even one step.

Eventually Steve lifted her and set her on her feet. She was stiff and she clung to him as if her life depended on it. Her life might not have, but her balance definitely did.

Steve kept one arm around her and began to glide backwards, leading her forward. Jessica just hoped they didn't run into anyone.

"You need to relax, Jess. Move your legs. I've got you."

Steve had her. He wouldn't let her fall on her face – or not on purpose, anyway.

"Give me your hands," she requested, and he did.

Her legs were still stiff and she basically just let him lead her wherever for the first few minutes. At least she hadn't fallen yet. This was already loads better than the last time she'd been skating.

"See," he said, pulling her back towards him until their bodies touched. "Not so scary, right?"

"Debatable. But it'd be scarier if you weren't here."

Music was playing loudly enough to make her chest vibrate with the bass of it, and it had been since they'd been there, but she hadn't taken in the songs that had been playing. It was mostly popular dance music, upbeat and fun. She knew a slower song would come on eventually, though. Maybe she'd be brave enough to move by then.

Steve didn't let go as he'd said he wouldn't. He kept her close to him – an arm around her to help her keep her balance, or when she was feeling braver, holding her hands to lead her to the middle of the rink. Other people were there, teenagers mostly, or parents with their children, but the crowd was thinning as the time went by.

Jessica finally began moving her feet so she could move on her own, but she still hung onto his hand the whole time.

"Okay, this isn't so bad," Jessica admitted. "Don't let go, though."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

And he wouldn't, not when he knew how much she was trusting him to keep her on her feet.

Jessica seemed to be most confident when slow songs were playing because everyone around them slowed down as well. She probably didn't feel as if she were going to be shoved around as much when everybody calmed down.

She never did let the grip on his hand go, though.

Steve made sure they left so they could make it back to Jessica's house by ten, like her mom wanted her to be.

"So . . . did you have fun?" he asked once they were in the car.

Jessica had begun laughing and moving more freely about twenty minutes before they'd had to turn the skates in.

"Yes, I did. I still can't skate, though."

"You did okay."

"Yeah, right."

Before Steve could put the car in drive Jessica kissed him on the cheek and, when he turned to her, on the lips.

There was no hesitation and no timidity in her movements, but it still surprised him when she flicked her tongue against his bottom lip. He pulled back just a little so he could catch her gaze with his. She smiled sweetly so he leaned back in and pressed his lips back to hers to allow her to continue to take control of the kiss, which she did. She placed one hand on his cheek and the gentleness jarred him. She was being so loving, giving without taking.

"I really did have fun," she said as she pulled back and sat in her seat.

Steve could see the flush in her cheeks by the lights in the parking lot.

"Yeah?"

"The fact that I didn't fall helped a lot. And the kissing part was nice too."

"Well, the kissing is always nice," he teased just so he could see her cheeks go a shade pinker than they already were, and because she usually smiled when he teased her even the smallest bit.

"You gonna come in when we get back to the house?"

"Definitely. My parents aren't home, so . . ."

"Well . . . you know you can stay over."

"I know."

He put the car in drive then and they were off.

On the way home, Jessica said, "You know I wasn't kidding when I said we could clean out the guest room for you."

"Yeah, but where would you put your stuff?"

"The cellar. We could make it a thing. Me, you, Dustin, Mom even, if she wants to. She loves you and doesn't like that you're alone either."

"As long as it's not a problem."

Steve loved that he was important enough to Jess and her family that they would even consider letting him use the extra room they had, but he never wanted to be a burden.

"You're not a problem," she said, her voice soft now. "And you shouldn't be alone."

And that was that.

So . . . this was their date. Let me know what you think. I don't really know MUCH about Dustin's mom, so I added to her personality the way I wanted.