SATELLITE [STEVE HARRINGTON]

princess steve

WHEN THE ROOM WAS READY, THEY LEFT JOYCE AND HOPPER TO START THE INTERROGATING. Lucas and Max were in the hallway, Dustin pacing nervously in the same room as Nancy. Mike and Jonathan were called into the shed.

Ginny sat on the Byers' couch, watching Steve practice swing his bat.

She smiled lightly at it; what a dork.

"You're doing it wrong," she chimed.

He raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

Standing to meet him, she explained, "Your feet are too far apart, and you're not following through on your swing. You'll get more power if you focus on going all the way through."

He narrowed his eyes, as if to challenge her. "Oh, yeah?"

She shrugged. "Yeah. I played softball through sophomore year. Quit when it got boring. I was too good."

Steve snorted and she took the bat from him, pushing him back with the tip of it. "Watch."

With a light grunt, she swung the bat in a complete arc, following through with the swing like she told him. She half-curtsied and handed him the bat again.

"Your turn, princess. Show me what you got."

Steve raised his eyebrows at the nickname, stepping up to the nonexistent plate and trying to hide his smile. "Princess? That's new."

Ginny leaned against the door frame and shrugged with a teasing smile. "You swing like a princess."

Steve laughed. "To be fair, I play basketball."

"Yeah, yeah. Get to swinging."

Laughing slightly, Steve readied himself again and grunted, swinging the bat as hard as he could manage. The muscle in his shoulder pulled a bit, but he went to try again—

"Okay, stop, stop. You're doing it all wrong, now." Ginny made her way behind him, using her foot to nudge his ankles in. "Your shoulders are slumped, your swing is slanted— square your hips, Harrington—" She gripped either side of his sides and untwisted him.

"It's not about swinging as hard as you can."

Her hands slid up to his shoulders, thumbs pressing into the blades gently and causing him to relax, unslump.

Her hands were warm on his neck. She was a head and a half shorter than him, but he swore he could feel her breath on his ear as she spoke.

"It's about control."

Steve turned his head, and sure enough, there she was. Ginny stood on her tiptoes, her face closer to his than it had ever been. His breath caught, and neither of them moved.

Jonathan's words echoed in Ginny's head. Just make the move. You won't regret it.

She could kiss him. She could kiss him, but it would be awkward and weird after when they had to battle demodogs or kill the Mind Flayer or whatever. It would be weird to kiss him after lecturing him on how to swing a bat, right?

The universe decided what to do, however, when the lights flickered rapidly around them.

Steve lowered his bat and looked at the fixture on the ceiling. Ginny's hands dropped from his shoulders. "The hell..." she muttered, noticing all the lights in the house doing the same thing.

Steve turned with her, as they ventured into the hall. "The demogorgons have a thing about lights..." he muttered.

Ginny swallowed nervously, sticking close to him. Where was her crowbar again?