Rocket's Red Glare

Newfound Feeling

After Holly went to the store by herself, she got more confident in leaving the house. Eventually, she was able to meet Joe for lunch. It started with them meeting outside the restaurant. Today, Holly wanted to make the jump to meeting Joe on set.

Joe smiled when he looked over and saw Holly standing out of the way. She stood by the snack table, perfectly behind the camera. It took everything in Joe for him to focus on the scene and not on Holly.

As Holly watched Joe's scene, she found herself blushing. She's been hanging out with him a lot more over the last few weeks, but it was different for her to see him at work. It was like he was truly in his element.

Holly's seen Stranger Things so she was aware of Joe's character, Steve Harrington, but there was something about seeing him act in person that made her. . . feel something.

Matt Duffer called cut, snapping Holly out of her thoughts. Her face burned when Joe looked at her and smiled. He raised his hand and waved. Nervously biting her bottom lip, Holly waved back. She laughed when he held up one finger and then quickly ran off somewhere.

Suddenly feeling a little awkward, Holly wrapped her arms around herself and studied the Hollywood set.

"You must be the famous Holly Joe's told us so much about."

She turned around to see one of Joe's costars smiling at her. She thought she knew who this was but she wasn't sure.

"I guess so," she shrugged.

"It's nice to finally put a face to the name," the guy chuckled. "I'm Joseph Quinn."

"Holly Richards," she introduced herself.

"I have to tell you," Joseph chuckled, "your neighbor can't seem to shut up about you."

Holly tightened her arms around herself and looked away in hopes of hiding her blush.

"What brings you to Hawkins, Indiana?" Joseph teased.

"Joe and I are going to lunch."

"That's great!" He laughed. He didn't think before adding, "Joe tells us you don't really leave the house much."

"I've gotten better," she said to try and hide her embarrassment.

"So he's said!"

"Sorry about that," Joe said as he joined his neighbor and his costar, now in his normal clothes.

"No worries," Joseph chuckled. "Holly and I were just getting to know each other."

Why did that bother Joe so much?

"That's great," Joe said slowly. He turned towards Holly and his heart clenched when he saw Holly rubbing her arms. Over the weeks, as Joe's gotten to know Holly, he's caught on to her mannerisms. Rubbing her arms and looking away was a sign that she was growing more and more uncomfortable by the moment.

"This guy never stops talking about you," Joseph said again. "I don't know what you've done to him but. . ."

"We should go," Joe asked quickly. Holly nodded, finally unwrapping her arms from around herself when he stepped closer to her.

"You two have fun," Joseph said in a teasing tone.

"Sorry about that," Joe sighed as they started walking to his car. "Joseph can sometimes be. . . a lot."

"I think he's nice," Holly shrugged.

"I hope he didn't make you feel too comfortable."

"No more than usual," she mumbled. Joe reached over and grabbed her hand.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"It's okay," Holly said quickly. "I need to get used to people talking to me like that. And besides, he was very nice."

That should have made Joe feel better, but it did the opposite.

* * * * *

After his lunch with Holly, Joe went back to work unable to shake this small piece of irritability. That weird feeling only got worse whenever Joseph was around. If he really thought about it, Joe knew what this feeling was. So he decided not to think about it.

"How was lunch with Holly?" Joseph asked as Joe walked back onto set.

"It was good," Joe said, trying to hide his irritability.

"You have fun?" He asked, oblivious to Joe's behavior.

"I did. I always have fun with Holly." Joe scowled, making Joseph laugh.

"I think she's great," Joseph said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Joseph said, putting his hands up in playful defense. "Just that I think she'd be good for you."

"Really?" Any irritability Joe had went away. "You think. . . You think she likes me?"

"Are you kidding?" Joseph scoffed. "Before you started hanging out with her, you said she rarely spoke or left her apartment. Right? Well, now she met you here for lunch. She even sat and had a full conversation with me while she waited for you. It's obvious that she likes you."

Joseph left to get ready for his next scene, but Joe was still thinking about whether or not Holly could like him. Sure, she was starting to improve herself-not that Joe thought she needed to improve anything. She was getting herself out there more and focusing on bettering herself.

Was it for her? Was it for him?

It was wonderful seeing her slowly start to get better. Is it wrong that he wanted it to be for him?