𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐔𝐄! ✽ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻

26

❝𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐄, 𝐈 𝐀𝐌 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓,❞ sherrie immediately protested. she practically gagged at the green knit sweater with white reindeer embellishments steve held against his chest. his wide smile faded at his best friend's lack of interest.

"please, sherrie?!" the boy whined. "i paid good money for these!"

"any money put towards that is not good money." steve let out a scoff.

"you just don't have taste." steve threw the sweater at the red-headed girl, who failed to catch it. she gasped as it hit her square in the face. dani flung the sleeve towards steve, who tried to dodge the attack, but the sweater hit his arm with a muffled clap. his brows furrowed as he rubbed his shoulder, giggles escaping sherrie's lips.

"i'll wear it if it really makes you happy," she caved, "even if it is the most god-awful, ugliest sweater i've seen in my entire 17 years of life."

steve smoothed out his hair after tugging the sweater over his red button-up shirt. "i don't see my gift anywhere, sheridan."

"my friendship is a gift of its own," the girl smiled as she began to head towards the restroom to change. steve scoffed again, something he was doing a lot in his past two months of friendship with dani.

"some gift." sherrie's smile remained on her face, even as she took off her def leppard shirt and pulled on that hideous sweater. she tucked the front into her bellbottoms, and supposed it wasn't all that bad. it could be a lot worse, she told herself, for steve.

the girl left the bathroom and entered her bedroom once more. white christmas lights twinkled around the ceiling; the lights steve insisted she put up, as well as the miniature christmas tree next to her records that steve also assembled. the boy perched atop the orange interior of her white egg chair in the corner of her bedroom. he examined the handful of polaroid and kodak cameras that sat atop the shelves in the corner to the right of him, just as sherrie made her way back into the room and began to slip her white reeboks on. "you ready?" she questioned, before noticing his attention had already been captured.

"i didn't know you were big into photography," steve mumbled. he stood from the chair, and took the closest one into his grip. he flipped it around to see it still had film inside it. dani joined him, standing at his side and gazing at the camera, as well.

"i was. before my dad passed," the girl explained. "i taught jonathan everything he knows."

"that might not've been such a good thing," steve joked, sheridan chuckling once she realized what he was talking about.

"i promise, i didn't teach him to sneak around your house and take pictures of you and nancy-"

"okay okay," steve persisted as he held out his hands. a few seconds passed as he came to a conclusion. "why don't we take a picture in our matching sweaters? in front of the christmas tree?"

"oh my god," dani groaned as she rubbed her temples. "fine, fine!" a smile painted steve's face as he turned the camera on, insisting his best friend pose correctly and put on a happy face. "only for you, steven," she sighed through a smile.

"hey! not the full first name!" steve argued back, also through his closed teeth.

"i could've said your middle name, too!" and before sheridan knew it, the white flash casted a shadow around the duo, blinding her momentarily. "holy shit," she muttered. dani hunched over and rubbed her eyes as steve plucked the polaroid from the camera and began to shake it. after a moment, the girl straightened herself out, to be faced with what might've been the corniest picture ever taken.

"don't you just love it?!" steve teased. sherrie rolled her eyes, dragging steve out of her bedroom and towards the front door. she nabbed betsy's keys as steve sneakily tucked the photo into his wallet.

"be careful, you two!" joyce hollered from the kitchen as the pair stepped onto the porch.

"will do, ms. byers!" steve called out before sheridan slammed the door shut behind him. they stood, frozen—both figuratively and literally—as small snowflakes coated their surroundings. steve howled with laughter as dani jogged into the driveway and stuck her tongue out towards the sky in hopes of catching one; and she did the same when she noticed the cold specks sticking perfectly to his high hairdo.

after a few minutes of playing in the snow, steve and sherrie made their way towards the wheeler's house. the two entered with ease, the scent of gingerbread wafting through the home and coaxing them into the kitchen. karen wheeler welcomed them with hugs and baked goods, with steve instantly obliging. he picked a frosted cupcake from the bunch and followed dani toward the basement.

loud cheering drowned out the faint sound of bing crosby's holiday album coming from upstairs. sherrie giggled as she saw the boys celebrating, which halted upon her arrival. "what'd i miss?"

"dani!" dustin, lucas, and mike exclaimed. they got up from their designated dungeons and dragons table to give the girl a hug.

"merry christmas, guys," the girl warmly stated. "sorry we're late."

"and in matching sweaters?" will questioned as he approached his sister and steve.

"and matching shoes, too," lucas pointed out. everyone glanced down at the reebok sneakers, the white and green logo accenting their sweaters perfectly. sherrie's head tilted backward with a groan leaving her open mouth.

"that was an accident," steve mentioned. "b-but i got us the matching sweaters. as a gift." his awkward smile could not fill the silence in the basement.

"remind me to never ask for a gift from you," lucas joked as he made his way up the stairs.

"you guys are like tweedle-dee and tweedle-dumb," dustin piped up as he followed behind lucas.

"is that a bad thing?" steve inquired with furrowed brows.

"you're clearly tweedle-dumb," dani joined in. she wrapped her arm around will's shoulder, laughing with him as they all made their way to the ground level. the siblings said their goodbyes, but nancy wheeler stopped them just before they headed out the door. "wait for me in the car, will," the red-headed girl told her youngest brother, handing him the keys.

"i'm sorry, i know you were on your way out, but... could you give this to jonathan for me?" nancy inquired. sherrie's brows dipped as she took the wrapped box into her grip. she turned it on its side, examining it from all angles.

"sure..." she drug out. as she went to turn and leave for what felt like the umpteenth time, nancy embraced dani in a hug. and she hugged back.

"merry christmas, dani," nancy whispered. "i'm glad we can do this again."

"me too." after a moment, nancy pulled away and gave a thin-lipped smile before going into the living room. "bye steve!" sheridan yelled, causing ted to jolt awake in his la-z-boy.

"bye dani!" the boy called out from the kitchen, his yell muffled by a mouthful of gingerbread.

that night, sherrie cuddled close with her family, watching the new christmas movie that had just come out—a christmas story—over a bowl of popcorn and some homemade gingerbread cookies. she woke up to a mountain of gifts under the tree with both her and jonathan snapping pictures, except jonathan was using his new camera that he had gotten from nancy. phil spector's a christmas gift for you album poured from dani's record player that she had brought into the living room. the byers house smelt of fresh honey-baked ham, and fruitcake, and cinnamon. as the family gathered around the table for their dinner, all felt right in the world. and although she wished it could last forever, she had a sneaking suspicion it wouldn't.

✽